Space shuttle Atlantis has landed at its Florida home port after a mission to deliver Europe's first permanent space lab to orbit, clearing the way for the U.S. military to shoot down a dead spy satellite.
The shuttle touched down at 9:07 a.m. EST (1407 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center, where NASA already has its next spaceship at the launch pad for a March 11 flight to continue assembling the International Space Station.
Flying through crisp and clear skies, Atlantis commander Stephen Frick circled high over the spaceport to burn off speed, then nosed the 100-ton spaceplane onto a three-mile (4.8 km)-long, canal-lined runway just a few miles (km) west of where the shuttle blasted off 13 days ago.
"Thanks for keeping us safe when we're airborne and bringing us safely home," Frick told ground controllers after the shuttle touched down. Atlantis' return frees the U.S. Navy to fire a missile as early as Wednesday night at the falling spy satellite, which is loaded with toxic rocket propellant. The shoot-down may have to be put off however because of rough seas..
The military says the fuel could pose a hazard to populated areas and that destroying the satellite just before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere increases the chance that debris will fall harmlessly into the ocean.
The satellite was launched in December 2006 and failed shortly after reaching orbit. Atlantis needed to land before the military operation to avoid flying through satellite wreckage as it returned to Earth and risk heat shield damage similar to what triggered shuttle Columbia's destruction in 2003. The space station, which orbits more than 200 miles (320 km) above the planet, would not be endangered by the satellite debris, which is expected to be pulled into Earth's atmosphere and incinerated within a few days after the spacecraft is destroyed.
The operation, likewise, is not expected to impede NASA's plans to return to the station with shuttle Endeavour next month to install the first piece of Japan's three-part Kibo laboratory complex, where a berthing port opposite Europe's newly arrived Columbus module awaits.