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Space Shuttle Lands Safely in Florida, 3 Days Late
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Dec. 7 — After going in circles for three extra days, the space shuttle Endeavour finally beat the weather and today brought home three astronauts who spent a half-year aboard the International Space Station.
Once again it was a close call for NASA forecasters, but Endeavour sneaked through partly cloudy skies and landed without problems on the three-mile-long runway.
The shuttle's landing delays were caused by low clouds, high winds and rain, and the station crew members spent 185 days in orbit.
Endeavour's supersonic plunge through the Earth's atmosphere produced a double boom that made a crowd of NASA guests cheer. Among them were the relatives and friends of the returning crew members: Dr. Peggy A. Whitson; and two Russian cosmonauts, Col. Valery G. Korzun of the Russian Air Force, and Sergei Y. Treschev, an engineer for the rocket builder RSC Energia. Awaiting them were also four doctors and two nurses.
"Welcome home after a great flight to close out a banner year for the world's space programs," Mission Control said as the shuttle came to a stop after the 2:37 p.m. landing.
Earlier in the day, the crew members were awakened by Mission Control, which played a recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Perry Como.
Besides bringing the former station crew back to Earth, the shuttle carried up a new team of astronauts who were scheduled to work on the orbital complex until March.
Endeavour delivered a $390 million girder to the station, expanding its backbone and railway. Two astronauts performed three spacewalks to finish installing the new segment and turn it into an operational part of the station.
The spacewalkers also fixed a design flaw that could have caused ammonia to leak from valves on the station's cooling lines.
The next shuttle launch is scheduled for Jan. 16. Columbia is set to lift off on a 16-day science mission that will include Col. Ilan Ramon of the Israeli Air Force. Colonel Ramon will be the first citizen of his country to fly in space.
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