Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 23, 2007

Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands in California
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17EB53C:A6F02AD83191E1600D08FFF6491B1D4D9574F7DCC14957C0 Atlantis returns
from two-week mission to International Space Station; voyage
complicated by problems with station's computers and shuttle's heat
shield





Shuttle Atlantis touches down at Edwards Air Force Base, California,
22 June 2007The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis has landed in California
after bad weather, for the second day in a row, prevented it from
landing at its home base in Florida. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.

Amid clear skies and calm winds, Atlantis coasted to a smooth landing
at Edwards Air Force Base in California Friday afternoon.

Astronaut Tony Antonelli at mission control in Houston greeted the
Atlantis crew members after they touched down. "Atlantis, Houston.
Welcome back. Congratulations on a great mission. Good job on
continuing to expand the space station in preparation for adding
modules from more of our international partners and stepping stones
for the rest of the NASA exploration plan," he said.

During their 14-day mission, Atlantis' seven astronauts installed
truss segments to support new solar arrays to power the International
Space Station.

The mission, which was only supposed to be 11 days, was extended so
repairs could be made to a torn thermal blanket that was damaged
during lift off.

The mission was further complicated when critical computers aboard the
Russian module of the International Space Station went down.

The computers control life support as well as navigation and the space
station's orientation in orbit. After a number of tense days, the
Russian cosmonauts managed to get the computers back on line.

Because the shuttle landed in California, NASA will now have to spend
almost two million dollars to get it back to its base at the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. It is flown back to Florida on a jumbo jet.

NASA's next space mission is scheduled for August 9th, when the
shuttle Endeavor will be launched. Its mission is to add another truss
segment for solar panels to power the International Space Station.


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