Atlantis safely lands after Hubble mission

The space shuttle Atlantis has returned safely to earth ending a 13-day mission that repaired and enhanced the Hubble Space Telescope. The shuttle was forced to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Sunday because of thunderstorms in Florida. "Now and only now can we declare this mission a total success - the seven astronauts are safely on the ground," NASA sciences chief, Ed Weiler, told a Florida press conference. The Atlantis crew had waited since Friday for the go-ahead to land as Mission Control hoped to avoid the time and expense --about USD 1.8 million-- of diverting to California's Edwards Air Force Base. It was the 53rd shuttle landing at Edwards; the last one was in November. The Florida weather refused to yield and Mission Control finally directed the shuttle's commander, Scott Altman, to head to California. The shuttle's twin sonic booms rocked the Mojave Desert as it swooped out of a dazzling morning sky. NASA officials said it will take about a week to prepare the Atlantis for its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center atop a NASA Boeing 747. During five spacewalks, the astronauts gave the 19-year-old Hubble new instrumentation, pointing devices and batteries. They also fixed broken instruments. The work will add years to the life of the telescope and its study of the universe.