Atlantis makes its final landing

Gliding into retirement after 32 missions covering 120 million miles,the shuttle Atlantis dropped out of orbit and returned to Earth...

Gliding into retirement after 32 missions covering 120 million miles,the shuttle Atlantis dropped out of orbit and returned to Earth on Wednesday,wrapping up a storied 25-year career with a near-flawless space station assembly mission.

Taking over manual control 50,000 feet above the Florida spaceport,Capt Kenneth T Ham of the Navy,the commander,guided the 105-tonne space plane through a sweeping right overhead turn before a steep descent to Runway 33.

Just shy of the runway threshold,Captain Ham pulled the shuttles nose up,Cmdr Dominic A Antonelli of the Navy,the pilot,deployed the ships landing gear and Atlantis swooped to a picture-perfect touchdown at 8:48 am Eastern time.

Houston,Atlantis,we have wheels stopped, Captain Ham radioed a few moments later. For you and your crew,that was a suiting end to an incredible mission. Im sure the station crew members hated to see you leave,but were glad to have you back, Marine Col Charles Hobaugh replied.

During a busy week docked to the International Space Station,the astronauts installed a Russian research module,delivered several tonnes of supplies and carried out three spacewalks to install a backup Ku-band antenna,an equipment mounting platform and six new solar array batteries.

It was the final planned mission for Atlantis as NASA phases out the shuttle program after three decades and more than 130 flights. Only two more missions are planned,a flight by Discovery in September or October and a final flight by Endeavour late this year or early next.

But Atlantis,along with a final set of solid-fuel boosters and NASAs last external tank,will be processed for launch on a possible rescue mission in case of any major problems that might prevent Endeavours crew from making a safe re-entry.

Story continues below this ad

Atlantis blasted off on its maiden flight,a classified military mission,on October 3,1985. Among the highlights of its quarter century of service were the launchings of robotic probes to Venus and Jupiter,deployment of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite,five military missions and seven flights to the Russian Mir space station. Atlantis also flew 11 missions to the International Space Station.