 Discovery touched down on schedule after 13 days in space |
The Discovery space shuttle and its six-strong crew have returned to Earth after a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. The orbiter touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1314 GMT.
Mission control had raised concerns about weather conditions, but gave the go-ahead shortly before the shuttle began its hour-long descent.
Nasa hopes the mission's apparent success has drawn a line under doubts over the shuttle programme's safety.
"Welcome back Discovery and congratulations on a great mission," mission control told shuttle commander Steven Lindsey, as the orbiter came to a halt on the runway after deploying its parachute.
"It was a great mission. A really great mission," Lindsey replied.
Discovery was cleared for re-entry over the weekend when inspections revealed no signs of damage to the craft.
The orbiter's flight is only the second shuttle mission since the Columbia broke up on re-entry in 2003 killing everyone on board and grounding the rest of the shuttle fleet.
Six-month stay
Crew members were woken early on Monday to begin preparations for re-entry, often judged the most risky phase of a shuttle mission.
 | DISCOVERY SHUTTLE FLIGHT Mission known as STS-121 Discovery's 32nd flight 18th orbiter flight to ISS Landing: 0914 EDT (1314 GMT) Location: Kennedy Space Center Crew: Lindsey, Kelly, Fossum, Nowak, Wilson, Sellers |
Mission control waited until almost the last minute to confirm the weather was good enough for the shuttle to return.
There had been some concerns over a bank of rain clouds in northern Florida which were expected to head towards the landing site.
Once the go-ahead was given, shuttle commander Steven Lindsey and co-pilot Mark Kelly started the spacecraft's plunge out of orbit to start its descent.
The shuttle reached a velocity of nearly 25 times the speed of sound as it glided through the atmosphere, generating huge amounts of heat.
No problems were reported with its heat shield, and the shuttle touched down on schedule under overcast skies.
The orbiter has returned a man lighter than at take-off, having left German astronaut Thomas Reiter on board the International Space Station for six months.
'Back on track'
Ahead of the landing, Mr Lindsey said Discovery's apparently trouble-free mission should dispel lingering doubts over the safety of the shuttle programme.
"I hope our legacy was that we closed out the return to flight test portion of the programme following the Columbia accident," he told ABC TV in the US.
"I personally believe we are back on track."
Accident investigators said the Columbia disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from the vehicle's external fuel tank during launch, striking the orbiter's wing and damaging the heat shield needed to protect it during re-entry.
Discovery's heat shield scan was done with the same laser and camera system which was used to check for possible damage from flying debris during launch earlier in the flight.
It checked for micrometeoroid impacts that could have damaged the shuttle during the mission.
The mission has included three spacewalks and repairs vital to resuming building work on the ISS.
