Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/16/discovery_lands/
Discovery glides home safely
Next shuttle mission: Hubble
Posted in Science, 16th June 2008 08:47 GMT
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Space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth on Saturday, touching down at 15:15 GMT at the Kennedy Space Center at the end of a successful 14-day jaunt to the International Space Station.
Mission STS-124 saw delivery and installation of the Pressurized Module of Japan's Kibo [1] laboratory during three spacewalks which also saw activation of the lab's logistics module.
Discovery also brought much-needed relief to the ISS in the form of a new pump for the Russian ASU space toilet - now fixed [2].
The next shuttle mission is STS-125 [3], slated to lift off on 8 October, which will see Atlantis make one final servicing trip to the Hubble Space Telescope before the shuttle fleet retires in 2010.
Over 12 days, crew will make five spacewalks [4] to "upgrade and enhance" Hubble's capabilities and hopefully see it fit for action for a further five years. ®