“Houston, Endeavour, wheels stopped”, this was the message radioed to mission control after Shuttle’s Mission ended smoothly late Sunday. The shuttle Endeavour arrived at Kennedy Space Centre successfully leaving International Space Station behind in orbit.
The Space Station has a life support module and a bay window observation deck attached to it. The atmosphere was smooth and the sky was party cloudy. The arrival was at 10:20 p.m. Eastern time exactly. Col. George D. Zamka of the Marines pulled up the shuttle’s nose. The Air Force pilot Col. Terry W. Virts Jr. deployed the ship’s landing gear downward at a 21-degree angle after a 5,000-mile glide from space.
The Endeavour landed on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center. After a few minutes, the craft rolled to a stop on the runway’s centerline. And a two-week mission spanning 217 orbits since blastoff on Feb. 8 was ended successfully. Colonel Zamka radioed to mission control by coded message informing the successful arrival of the Shuttle.
The Shuttle has installed the Tranquility node and has opened up the cupola’s windows to the world. An astronaut from Houston Rick Sturckow congratulated the crew and said it was an outstanding mission all together.