Space Shuttle Lands After Delay for Bad Weather

Despite the fact that its mission was over as the shuttle re-entered the earth's atmosphere, it really wasn't. NASA was testing a new type of protective tile with a slight bump during re-entry.

A tile was attached beneath Discovery’s left wing to disrupt the hypersonic air flow. Engineers wanted to measure the extra heat generated on downstream tiles while at the same time insisting that the experiment was safe.

While the shuttle program is nearing conclusion, a new tile could be used to improve re-entry safety on the new spaceships that will take their place.

Returning with the seven-member crew was astronaut Sandy Magnus, who spent 129 days aboard the space station. At the same time, Discovery dropped off Koichi Wakata, who is the first Japanese astronaut to spend an extended time on the station.

It was Discovery's 36th voyage and the 125th space shuttle mission in the program's history.