At 9.14 a.m. on July 17 the space shuttle Discovery and its six returned to Earth through thick clouds, ending an impressive mission that put NASA's space program back on a solid, safer course.
For the crew it was the end of a 13 day 5.3 million mile mission that took them from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the international space station and back again.
During the mission astronauts delivered supplies and dropped German astronaut Thomas Reiter off at the station.
The returning crews were: Steven Lindsey, Mark Kelly, Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson and Piers Sellers. Stephanie Wilson has received widespread media coverage because she was the second black woman in space.
The orbiter's flight was only the second since 2003, when seven astronauts died in the Columbia shuttle disaster. The tragedy was caused when a piece of foam hit the wing, causing the ill-fated shuttle to disintegrate on re-entry.
The decision to land was not made until about 10 minutes before Discovery was scheduled to begin its return to Earth. Space Center officials had been worried about the presence of rain showers and clouds north of the landing site. In the end the weather prompted them to decide to use a different runway.
NASA is now preparing to resume construction of the International Space Station following the success of the mission, and Europe will take an enhanced role in maintaining and supplying the orbiting outpost.
NASA has an ambitious flight schedule planned to complete the station before the shuttle is retired at the end of 2010. Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch in late August, carrying a solar array, batteries and one of the station's truss segments.
The most dangerous part of any shuttle mission is the descent home to Earth. The friends, families and colleagues of the Discovery crew are no doubt very glad to see them on solid ground.
