Shuttle safe after nailbiter

Atlantis had only enough fuel to last until Wednesday

The space shuttle Atlantis has finally returned to Earth, landing several thousand kilometres away from its planned destination and two days later than scheduled.

Nasa flight controllers diverted the shuttle to Edwards Air Force Base in California after bad weather prevented its return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During their mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the five Atlantis astronauts attached a new laboratory to the orbiting platform.

The installation of the $1.4bn Destiny module has been described by Nasa officials as the most significant stage in the whole ISS assembly sequence.

Hollywood movies

The American-built laboratory will be one of six space labs in which astronauts from 16 countries will conduct research when the station is completed in five years' time.

Attaching the lab was a delicate operation

Nearly 40 further US and Russian missions will be needed to complete the building programme, at a cost that will probably exceed $60bn.

The Atlantis astronauts also delivered supplies, including some Hollywood films, to the crew that has lived aboard the station since November.

Eleven days after take-off, the shuttle was ready to return, but was forced to spend two days circling the Earth waiting for a suitable landing opportunity to arise.

Flight controllers cancelled two attempts to land Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, because of poor visibility.

Supplies running low

By Tuesday afternoon, the shuttle had only enough fuel, water and air purifiers to stay aloft for another 24 hours at most, so it headed for the back-up landing site in California's Mojave desert.

Edwards Air Force Base was the main landing site for space shuttles in the early years of the US space programme, but it is now used infrequently.

Landing in California means the shuttle has to be ferried back to Florida on the back of a modified Boeing 747 at a cost of nearly $1m.

Atlantis is expected to be back in its hangar next week in order to be prepared for its next space mission in June.