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- 2002-05-22
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The space shuttle Discovery touched down safely in California Tuesday, marking the culmination of the first shuttle flight since Columbia disintegrated in flames in 2003.
Commander Eileen Collins landed Discovery at Edwards Air Force base at 5:11 am (1211 GMT), ending a 14-day mission that NASA managers hailed as a success, Mission Control said after adjusting the touchdown time.
"Discovery is home," Mission Control in Houston, Texas, said as the wheels roared onto the 6,800-meter (15,000-foot) concrete runway shortly after two huge sonic booms rang out over the dark Mojave desert as Discovery approached its home planet.
"Welcome home," Mission Control told Collins and her six crew members individually seconds after touchdown.
"A job well done," she replied after a flawless re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and the one-hour descent to landing.
NASA managers have hailed the mission as a success even though it showed they failed to resolve the insulating foam problem that had doomed Columbia when it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.
Discovery was initially scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral in Florida, but bad weather forced NASA to shift the landing site to California.
Mission Control officials heaved a sigh of relief as a parachute deployed from the rear of the shuttle, slowing down Discovery, which then came to a full stop, safely returning the seven astronauts to Earth.
The final moments of a shuttle mission are among the most critical, and it was upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere that Columbia had burst into flames.
The tragedy was blamed on insulating foam that fell off and damaged the orbiter's left wing upon take-off.
Similar chunks of foam fell off the external tank when Discovery blasted into space on July 26. NASA said the debris caused no significant damage, but upon its return, Discovery was grounded with the rest of the fleet until the problem is resolved.
The US space agency was optimistic that a solution would be found soon, and tentatively scheduled the next launch for September 22.
Commander Eileen Collins landed Discovery at Edwards Air Force base at 5:11 am (1211 GMT), ending a 14-day mission that NASA managers hailed as a success, Mission Control said after adjusting the touchdown time.
"Discovery is home," Mission Control in Houston, Texas, said as the wheels roared onto the 6,800-meter (15,000-foot) concrete runway shortly after two huge sonic booms rang out over the dark Mojave desert as Discovery approached its home planet.
"Welcome home," Mission Control told Collins and her six crew members individually seconds after touchdown.
"A job well done," she replied after a flawless re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and the one-hour descent to landing.
NASA managers have hailed the mission as a success even though it showed they failed to resolve the insulating foam problem that had doomed Columbia when it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.
Discovery was initially scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral in Florida, but bad weather forced NASA to shift the landing site to California.
Mission Control officials heaved a sigh of relief as a parachute deployed from the rear of the shuttle, slowing down Discovery, which then came to a full stop, safely returning the seven astronauts to Earth.
The final moments of a shuttle mission are among the most critical, and it was upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere that Columbia had burst into flames.
The tragedy was blamed on insulating foam that fell off and damaged the orbiter's left wing upon take-off.
Similar chunks of foam fell off the external tank when Discovery blasted into space on July 26. NASA said the debris caused no significant damage, but upon its return, Discovery was grounded with the rest of the fleet until the problem is resolved.
The US space agency was optimistic that a solution would be found soon, and tentatively scheduled the next launch for September 22.
