CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Shuttle Endeavours astronauts pulled out of the International Space Station Sunday, clearing the way for a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and an American millionaire making the worlds first space tourist trip.
With astronauts from the U.S., Russia, Canada and Italy aboard, Endeavour pilot Jeff Ashby steered the spaceship three-quarters of a lap around the outpost as crewmates snapped still pictures and shot videotape of the gleaming 17-story station.
Shuttle jet thrusters then propelled the ship on a two-day trip back to Earth, capping a problem-plagued mission to erect a $600 million Canadian construction crane at the outpost.
The looping fly-around provided both the shuttle and station crews with some amazing views.
Stretching 57.7-feet (17.5-meters) from end to end, the huge robot arm could be seen dangling from the station in the shape of a giant "V," its elbow joint bent as if it was flexing a biceps. Raging thunderstorms flashed below as Endeavour zoomed toward the dark side of Earth.
"Dont know if its you, but we see this really realistic model of the space shuttle down below us and thunderstorms below that," U.S. station flight engineer Jim Voss called out over ship-to-ship radio.
"We see you guys, but we see a model of an arm on your space station. And we agree. Weve been kind of oohing-and-ahhing over these thunderstorms as well," shuttle skipper Kent Rominger replied.
"Its really quite a sight seeing you guys fly underneath us as its getting dark," Voss said.
Added Rominger: "Well you have one beautiful spaceship."
Coming up on the heels of Endeavour: A Russian Soyuz crew, which includes California financier Dennis Tito, a former NASA engineer who paid the Russian Aviation and Space Agency an estimated $20 million for a 10-day round trip to the station.
Launched early Saturday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Tito and two veteran cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin are due to arrive at the station early Monday.
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