The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis is making final preparations for Thursday's scheduled return to Earth. The shuttle will have two opportunities to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the southern U.S. state of Florida. But a possibility of thunderstorms and low clouds over the landing site could postpone the shuttle's return until Friday.
Atlantis has enough supplies to stay in space until Sunday.
NASA engineers cleared the shuttle to land on Thursday after an in-flight inspection revealed no damage to the heat shield. They also determined a thermal blanket near the shuttle's tail section could withstand the intense heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
The blanket was damaged during takeoff and later repaired during a spacewalk.
During its 13-day mission, the Atlantis crew conducted four spacewalks to install a new solar panel array on the International Space Station. They also delivered U.S. astronaut Clayton Anderson as the newest member of the orbital outpost's permanent crew.
Anderson is replacing Sunita Williams, who spent six months aboard the space station. She set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman during her mission. - VOA News
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