CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - The jubilant crew of NASA's shuttle Discovery is readjusting
to life back on Earth, but glad to be home all the same after a successful flight
to the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery
landed here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT) to
end a 14-day trek that delivered Japan's $1 billion Kibo laboratory and a new crewmember
to the space station.
"It's been
a long day for us, a great day," said shuttle commander Mark Kelly after the
flight. "I think I have the best space shuttle crew of all time."
The
mission, Kelly said, was as much a lesson in international cooperation as it
was in orbital construction.
"It was a privilege
for all of us to deliver a Japanese laboratory on orbit," he added.
Discovery's
crew staged three spacewalks at the station to install and outfit
Japan's Kibo lab, attach its rooftop storage room and perform maintenance work.
They also delivered spare parts for the station's balky Russian toilet, which
cosmonauts revived during their joint mission.
Kelly
returned to Earth alongside shuttle pilot Kenneth Ham and mission specialists
Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan, Michael Fossum, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide
and NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who ended a 95-day flight to the space station
when Discovery touched down. But despite his long stay in space, Reisman
appeared steady on his feet and beaming to be back on Earth.
"I think maybe
we're onto something here, we need more short people in the astronaut office,"
said Reisman, who said before landing that he hoped his short stature might
help his readjustment to gravity. "I'm happy that it finally came in handy for
something besides limbo contests."
Kidding
aside, Reisman said his dedication to a daily exercise regimen may have helped
his ability to withstand Earth's gravitational tug once more. He was also happy
to finally see his wife Simone again, something he repeatedly said he was
looking forward to before landing.
"It was
fantastic," he said. "It was a very tender moment when I got a chance to go
over and hold her again." Reisman was replaced aboard the station by NASA astronaut
Gregory Chamitoff, who is beginning his own six-month mission aboard the space
station.
Aside from
Kelly and Fossum, who were already spaceflight veterans when
Discovery launched on May 31, all of the astronauts returning home
completed their first orbital flight. That included Hoshide, who represented
the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) when he opened the roomy, tour
bus-sized Kibo module for business at the space station.
"Probably
the most memorable [moment] was when we opened the hatch and we had a big party
inside," Hoshide, referring to Kibo's grand opening last week when astronauts bounced
off its bare, curved walls. "It was good to see everyone enjoying that space."
The 37-foot
(11-meter) Kibo module is the second of three segments that make up the entire
Japanese facility aboard the space station. It was two windows, a 33-foot
(10-meter) robotic arm and a small airlock to pass experiments out to a
porch-like external platform slated to launch next year. A smaller robotic arm
for fine movements is also set to fly next year.
Fossum said
that he was awed to see Kibo attached
to the space station after undocking, adding that the contributions of past
shuttle missions, as well as engineers and flight controllers on Earth, led up to
a sight that finally resembled what until now had only been depicted in artists'
posters.
"It's just
a great feeling of accomplishment for all of us to know that we had a small part,
for these last two weeks, it was our time to play our part in the big
play," Fossum said. "And you know, we knocked it out of the park. It was just a
great mission."
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