Space Shuttle Discovery Returns to Florida Home

The space shuttle Discovery returned to its home port in Florida Monday to end a two-day trek across the country.

Riding piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, Discovery touched down at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT) to be prepared for another launch into orbit next year. The shuttle was ferried home Edwards Air Force Base in California, where it landed Sept. 11 after a two-week mission to the International Space Station.

The 2,500-mile (4,023-km) ferry flight began early Sunday in California and stopped in Amarillo and Ft. Worth, Texas to refuel Discovery?s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft before spending the night at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. Rainy weather over Florida threatened to force NASA to divert Discovery to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Bay, Fla., but eased in time for the shuttle?s noon arrival.

Because of the bad weather nearby, Discovery?s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft pilots were unable to perform a planned flyover of the region surrounding the Kennedy Space Center - also known as the Space Coast - to give residents more views of the spacecraft riding atop its carrier plane.

Discovery blasted off late Aug. 28 with a crew of seven astronauts to deliver about 8 tons of cargo, science equipment and other gear to the International Space Station. Three spacewalks were performed during the flight, which lasted 14 days and flew 5.7 million miles (9.2 million km).

NASA was unable to land Discovery at the Kennedy Space Center?s Shuttle Landing Facility on Sept. 11 due to bad weather. The shuttle was diverted to the backup runway in California. The ferry flights back to Florida typically cost about $1.8 million.

Discovery will be detached from its 747 carrier aircraft using a special crane-like tool, called the Mate/De-Mate Device, at the Shuttle Landing Facility and then towed back to its service hangar. The shuttle?s next trip to the space station is currently scheduled for March 2010.

NASA plans to launch six more shuttle missions before retiring its three-orbiter fleet in the next year or two. The shuttle Atlantis is next to fly, and is due to launch Nov. 12 on a supply mission to the station.

• Image Gallery - Shuttle Discovery's Midnight Launch
• NASA Reveals Crew for Last Scheduled Shuttle Mission
• Video - How to Make a Space Burrito