Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands In California

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Space shuttle Atlantis and
its seven astronauts are back on Earth.
Atlantis landed Sunday morning in California, ending a
successful 13-day mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.
Thunderstorms prevented the shuttle from returning to its Florida
home base for the third day in a row. Commander Scott Altman was
grateful for the beautiful desert weather.
The astronauts left behind a refurbished Hubble that scientists
say is better than ever. Researchers expect it to churn out
pictures of the universe for another five to 10 years.
It will take about a week to get Atlantis back to Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, and cost NASA close to $2 million. The previous
Edwards shuttle landing was in November.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)