Space shuttle lands in Florida
- 00:02:26
- ITN
Space shuttle lands in Florida
The US space shuttle Discovery has landed safely in Florida after its mission to the International Space Station. Commander Lee Archambault guided Discovery onto a canal-lined runway at the Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle left a fourth and final set of solar panel wings behind along with a new crewmember, Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to live on the space station. Nasa officials skipped an earlier landing opportunity due to gathering clouds and gusting winds, delaying Discovery's homecoming and forcing another orbit of Earth. The ISS welcomed its latest visitors - returning station commander Gennady Padalkam, Nasa astronaut Michael Barratt and former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi - when a Russian Soyuz capsule docked shortly after the Discovery left. Padalka and Barratt will be swapping places with outgoing commander Michael Fincke and flight engineer Yuri Lonchakov, who are scheduled to return to Earth along with billionaire tourist Mr Simonyi on April 7.
ITN | March 29, 2009
