News Details (Posted: July 18, 2006):

Discovery Lands Safely In Florida

Full Description:

Space shuttle Discovery came through the clouds over Florida on Monday morning and glided to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

The spacecraft landed right on time at 9:14 a.m. EDT, despite a last-minute change.

Just before 9 a.m. EDT, ground controllers asked the crew to make a change to its landing, switching from a planned touchdown on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center to runway 15. That is actually the same strip, but the craft approached from the other direction to avoid a storm.

After 8 a.m. EDT, Discovery fired its braking rockets for the return.

The crew wrapped up a 13-day mission to the international space station.

Forecasters were concerned earlier that rain showers near the runway may violate flight safety rules, but the crew was given the all clear.

The Discovery mission delivered supplies and a new crewmember to the space station and tested safety procedures for the shuttle developed since the Columbia disaster in 2003.