Space shuttle Discovery landed safely on Earth before dawn landing in the Mojave desert, two weeks and 5.8 million miles later. Here's a snip from John Schwartz and Warren Leary's story in the NYT:
The shuttle began the end of its mission at 7:06 by firing its engines over the Indian Ocean for more than two minutes in what is known as a de-orbit burn. About 30 minutes later, at an altitude of 76 miles, the shuttle entered the atmosphere at a maximum speed of more than 16,000 miles per hour, guided at first by its steering jets and later, as the atmosphere became thicker, by its wing flaps and rudder.
During the computer-controlled descent, Discovery bled off excess energy and reduced its speed by performing a series of four banks. The shuttle streaked across the California coast from the southwest and flew north of Los Angeles on a course that took it between Oxnard and Ventura. A characteristic double sonic boom could be heard over Edwards as the craft passed overhead.
Once Discovery's velocity dropped below the speed of sound, Colonel Collins took over the controls and brought the spacecraft – now, essentially, a brick with wings – in for its approach. She executed a 196-degree turn to line up with Edwards' 15,000-foot concrete runway 2-2. Main gear touched down and the parachute was deployed; the nose gear touched down immediately after, at 8:11 a.m. Eastern time, one minute ahead of schedule.
"Discovery is home," said James Hartsfield, the NASA spokesman narrating the return.
Link to story. Image: Chris Carlson/Associated Press — Discovery lands in the Mojave desert at 5:11 a.m. PDT, before dawn.
