Shuttle returns to Earth, lands in Calif.
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned safely to Earth on Sunday, detouring from stormy Florida to sunsplashed California to end a 13-day mission that repaired and enhanced the Hubble Space Telescope.
"Now and only now can we declare this mission a total success — the astronauts are safely on the ground," NASA sciences chief Ed Weiler told a Florida press conference.
Atlantis' crew had waited since Friday for the go-ahead to land as Mission Control hoped to avoid the time and expense — about $1.8 million — of diverting to California's Edwards Air Force Base.
The Florida weather refused to yield and Mission Control finally directed shuttle commander Scott Altman to head to California. The shuttle's twin sonic booms rocked the Mojave Desert as it swooped out of a dazzling morning sky.
Out on the runway after landing, Altman reflected on how long it had taken to get their mission underway — and then to end it.
"When we got down to Florida I looked at everybody and said, 'At last,"' Altman said. "I didn't realize it was going to be so hard to get back to the Earth in the end. So again I guess I say the same thing, at last we're back on the ground."
It was the 53rd shuttle landing at Edwards; the last one was in November.
The crew finally set foot on the ground about two hours after touchdown, receiving greetings from ground personnel before they began the customary walkaround to inspect the exterior of their spacecraft. It was uncertain whether the crew would return to their Houston homes later Sunday or on Monday.
NASA officials said it will take about a week to prepare Atlantis for its ferry flight back to Kennedy Space Center atop a NASA Boeing 747.
During five spacewalks, the astronauts gave the 19-year-old Hubble new science instruments, pointing devices and batteries, and fixed broken instruments. The astronauts overcame stuck bolts and other difficulties.
The work will add years to the life of the telescope and its study of the universe.
