Discovery lands safely

Tweet

Saturday, December 23, 2006 (Cape Canaveral): The space shuttle Discovery, with a seven-member crew, landed safely at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, despite earlier concerns about weather conditions. NASA managers took the decision to give the go ahead for the landing after weather conditions improved steadily through Friday. Discovery had originally been scheduled to land on Thursday, but the flight was extended to allow a fourth spacewalk. Condition assessment On Thursday afternoon, after another inspection and more analysis of the shuttle's heat shields, the space agency pronounced Discovery safe to return. Its arrival announced by its signature twin sonic booms, the spaceship touched down on a floodlit runway after a smooth, 13-day flight. During their stay, the astronauts rewired the space station and delivered Indian-American astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams to the orbiting outpost for a six-month stay. The shuttle brought home Williams' predecessor aboard the space station, German astronaut Thomas Reiter, who felt the pull of gravity Friday for the first time since July. (With AP inputs)