Space shuttle Atlantis crew deliver a statement after landing at the Kennedy Space Centre. (Reuters: Scott Audette)
The shuttle Atlantis has landed back on Earth, capping a mission to the International Space Station and bringing NASA's small fleet of winged spaceships closer to looming retirement.
Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts touched down at 9:44am (1444 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, under mostly sunny skies.
During their 11-day mission, the fliers delivered and equipped the space station with nearly 13,608 kilograms of critical spare parts intended to ensure safe and scientifically productive operations well after the final shuttle flight, scheduled for late September 2010.
The bulky spare gyroscopes, thermal control system components, oxygen tank and robot arm hardware hauled aboard Atlantis to the orbital outpost exceeded the carrying capacity available on the short line-up of rocket launchers capable of reaching the station.
While the shuttle was parked at the station, the Atlantis astronauts hustled through three spacewalks and took on extra tasks.
They teamed with five US, Russian and European astronauts aboard the station to establish power, cooling and airway connections ahead of Tranquility's arrival and set up new external communications systems to ease future maintenance of the outpost.
"Welcome back to Earth, everybody," Mission Control radioed Atlantis commander Charlie Hobaugh and his crew as the spacecraft rolled to a stop on the coastal runway.
Astronaut Randy Bresnik, who travelled to space for the first time, closely monitored his wife, Rebecca, who went into labor and gave birth to a daughter, Abigail Mae, during a day-long break between his two spacewalks.
"It's the most amazing three days of my life," the Marine Corps aviator said. "I look forward to getting home and seeing her for the first time in person."
Set to retire
With the assembly of the space station nearly complete, just a handful of shuttle missions remain. Endeavour's February flight will deliver Tranquility, the final habitable module of the station's US segment.
Under current US planning, NASA will phase out activities aboard the station by 2016 to free up funding for a shuttle successor that can transport astronauts back to the moon and the orbital outpost.
But US President Barack Obama's administration is reviewing options developed by a White House advisory panel that include extending station activities until 2020, an outcome supported by many in Congress and favoured by NASA's international partners.
Other options under review would scrap NASA's plans to establish a base on the moon and take aim at an asteroid and other destinations humans have yet to explore.
Although NASA achieved five successful shuttle missions in 2009, the most in a year since the Columbia disaster of 2003 that claimed the lives of seven astronauts, the winged ships seem unlikely to receive a reprieve beyond early 2011.
NASA has already instructed its contractors to halt the production of fuel tanks and solid rocket boosters and made other moves that have triggered hundreds of layoffs.
"We have only so many missions to go," Mike Leinbach, NASA's shuttle launch director, told reporters shortly after Atlantis lifted off on November 16.
Nicole Stott, who returned to Earth aboard Atlantis after three months aboard the station, is the last American scheduled to make the round trip journey aboard a shuttle.
After the February mission, the final four shuttle flights will carry more supplies and scientific research gear to finish out a dozen years of construction and outfitting of the outpost that has grown larger than an American football field.
- AFP
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