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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) – The shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth Wednesday from the final space flight of its 25-year career, marking the beginning of a bittersweet end for NASA's storied space shuttle program.
Shuttle commander Ken Ham touched the spacecraft down at 8:48 am (1248 GMT), completing a flawless landing on the runway at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
As it descended toward Earth, Atlantis glided over the south Pacific, Panama and the western tip of Cuba before reaching Florida and the space center, and was "rock solid on the final approach," center director Robert Cabana said.
Space officials had words of high praise for Ham's handling of the space vehicle.
"That looked pretty sweet," said Charlie Hobaugh, who as NASA's "capsule communicator" is generally the only person who interacts directly with a shuttle crew during a spaceflight.
Wednesday's landing caps the 25-year career of one of NASA's iconic spacecrafts.
Shuttle commander Ken Ham touched the spacecraft down at 8:48 am (1248 GMT), completing a flawless landing on the runway at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
As it descended toward Earth, Atlantis glided over the south Pacific, Panama and the western tip of Cuba before reaching Florida and the space center, and was "rock solid on the final approach," center director Robert Cabana said.
Space officials had words of high praise for Ham's handling of the space vehicle.
"That looked pretty sweet," said Charlie Hobaugh, who as NASA's "capsule communicator" is generally the only person who interacts directly with a shuttle crew during a spaceflight.
Wednesday's landing caps the 25-year career of one of NASA's iconic spacecrafts.
