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.
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