CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Discoverys American and Japanese astronauts said sayonara to the International Space Station Friday, leaving the outpost ready for its first full-time tenants and two future construction crews.

With rookie pilot Pam Melroy at the controls, Discovery inched away from the 13-story station at 11:08 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (15:08 GMT) as the two craft soared above the Amazon River Basin near Brasilia, the capitol of Brazil.

The International Space Station appears to move away from Discovery as the shuttle separates after undocking.

About an hour later, Melroy fired the shuttles nose-and-tail steering thrusters in a series of big bursts, and Discovery rocketed off on the last leg of a complex station assembly mission already deemed a resounding success.

"I think we can declare victory," NASA flight director Chuck Shaw said.

In a matter of a week, the astronauts erected a girder-like metal truss, installed electrical power transformers and added a new shuttle docking port to the outpost.

Mission Discovery

Look here for the latest news from NASA's STS-92.

Four spacewalks were staged to wire up the new additions. Two key communications antennas were deployed. Rescue jetpacks were tested and the crew readied the inside of the station for the arrival in just 11 days of its first long-term residents.

U.S. astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts -- Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev -- remained scheduled for launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 31.

The trio will arrive at the station two days later -- the start of a four-month tour of duty.

"We think theyre going to be very happy living in their new home," Discovery commander Brian Duffy said after the crew set sail from the station.

"Its just beautiful in there. Everything is new and clean and shiny," added Melroy. "We were very impressed, and we think 'Shep' and his crew are just going to love it."

~

Someone has to do it

Discoverys high-flying departure came after a morning-long scramble to finish up work inside the station and then close hatches between the shuttle and the outpost.

A messy shuttle toilet repair job -- coupled with station systems tests that took longer than expected -- conspired to put the crew behind schedule Thursday.

Looking through Discovery's centerline docking hatch camera moments after the space station and the shuttle undocked on Friday.

Consequently, the wrap-up work within the outpost was put off until Friday, delaying the crews departure by about 90 minutes.

Standing at a control station at the rear of Discoverys flight deck, Melroy slowly backed the shuttle to a point 1,000 feet (303 meters) away from the station and then fired on-board jet thrusters, putting the ship on course for its return trip to Earth.

"It was really awesome," said Melroy, who is only the third woman to serve as a shuttle pilot. "It was actually just a really fun and interesting experience, and I think I got a feel for how the shuttle flies."

The construction work completed by the crew cleared the way for the delivery in December and January, respectively, of a huge set of station solar arrays and a U.S. lab that will serve as the scientific hub of the growing outpost.

The giant solar arrays -- which will launched to the station November 30 aboard shuttle Endeavour -- are to be mounted on a 9-ton truss put in place by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the prime shuttle robot-arm operator on Discoverys flight.

The Discovery crew also rigged up cooling lines that will hook up to the U.S. Destiny lab, which is to be launched on shuttle Atlantis in mid January. All in all, their mission was considered NASAs most challenging station assembly flight to date.

"We couldnt be happier with the way things went," Duffy said. "The feeling is just extremely satisfying for everybody on board."

The astronauts, however, are not popping any champagne corks yet.

A series of landing system tests will be conducted Saturday, and then the crew faces a supersonic dive back through the atmosphere the following day.

"We havent started celebrating yet," Duffy said. "Well do that when we get home."

Landing at Kennedy Space Center now is scheduled for about 2:15 p.m. EDT (18:15 GMT) Sunday.