“Discovery … wrapping up a 5.7-million-mile mission to further expand the global city in space.”
Discovery glided home through sunny Florida skies. Fox News was covering the landing live with former astronaut Thomas Jones. NASA reports:
Discovery Lands in Florida
Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Photo credit: NASA› Share your comments about the mission
With Commander Mark Kelly and Pilot Ken Ham at the controls, space shuttle Discovery descended to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The STS-124 crew concluded their successful assembly mission to the International Space Station when the shuttle landed at 11:15 a.m. EDT.
The STS-124 crew arrived at the station June 2, delivering the second component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory and a new Expedition 17 crew member – Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff – to the station. Chamitoff took the place of Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who is returning to Earth as a member of the Discovery crew.
STS-124 is the 123rd shuttle mission and 26th shuttle flight to visit the space station.
Live chat at Bad Astronomy. Discussions at Nasaspaceflight. Official NASA landing blog here.
Deorbit burn video here. Landing video here. Look for landing pics and video at KSC. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.
