California landing for Atlantis

The shuttle landing was delayed by bad weather


Atlantis landing
US space shuttle Atlantis has landed after a two-week mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The shuttle touched down at the Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave desert at 1249 (1949 GMT).

Poor weather conditions caused the touch-down to be first delayed and then moved from the original landing site, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The shuttle landed with Sunita Williams, who has set the record for the longest space flight by a woman.

She spent 195 days in space and set another record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman.

"When you've been somewhere for six months, it becomes your home and it's hard to leave," said Ms Williams.

Computer reboot

While orbiting above Earth, the shuttle crew performed several spacewalks to attach a new section to the ISS containing solar arrays to provide more power to the station.

Besides the delay in landing, the mission was extended by two days due to computer problems and a tear in the shuttle's protective thermal blanket.

A small section of the blanket was torn during launch on 8 June but stitched back in place by astronauts during a spacewalk.

The mission was also complicated by the crash of vital ISS computers that control the station's positioning and its oxygen supply.

The station's Russian cosmonauts were able to reboot the computers after several days.