After a long, 16-day Internation Space Station (ISS) construction mission, space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday. The mission had been long delayed by weather and operational difficulties.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata has returned, swapping places with another space shuttle astronaut, Timothy L. Kopra. He spent four-and-a-half months in space, and reportedly says he can't wait to eat some sushi. Oh, and see his wife and son.
The shuttle carried several key components for Japan's Kibo science laboratory. Kibo is also knowsn as the Japanese Experiment Module, and is Japan's first human space facility.
NASA's next space shuttle launch is scheduled for late August, pending investigations into why there was an unusual amount of foam dropped off Endeavour's fuel tank during its July 15th launch.
NASA has scheduled seven more shuttle flights through September 2010. At that point the space shuttle program will be retired. American astronauts will fly to the ISS on Russian space vehicles during the five years until the shuttle’s successor is built.
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