Atlantis lands in California from Hubble mission
Atlantis landed at the Edwards Air Force Base on Sunday, completing a mission that was two days longer than originally anticipated, with the threat of rain and thunderstorms at the Kennedy Space Center canceling landing attempts on Friday and Saturday. Thus, NASA was forced to go with its back-up landing strip in California, ABC reports.
"At last, we're back on the ground," astronaut Scott Altman said. "It's great to be here at Edwards Air Force Base."
NASA would have preferred to land in Florida, since shipping the shuttle back on a 747 will cost the space agency $1.8 million, slowing its ability to turn it around for it's next mission.
The astronauts traveled more than 5.2 million miles on this trip, completing five back-to-back space walks to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. A new camera, batteries and gyroscopes could have it unlocking secrets of the universe for another decade.
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