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With shuttle back on Earth, NASA looks ahead
A picture-perfect end to Atlantis’ difficult assembly mission to the international space station on Thursday placed NASA on a pace to fly three shuttle missions this year, the most since 2002.
The shuttle’s pre-dawn landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida marked the end of the first major construction activities at the half-built orbital outpost since the 2003 Columbia accident.
The mission also involved the sightings of baffling, debris-like objects floating near the spacecraft, leading to a one-day delay in returning.
Space officials focused Thursday on the mission’s accomplishments.
“It’s obvious to me we are re-building the kind of momentum that we have had in the past and that we need if we are to finish the space station,” said NASA administrator Michael Griffin, who was at the runway to greet the six Atlantis astronauts. “We have an awesome task in front of us. I think we will make it.”
The stage for Atlantis’ 12-day mission was set by a July shuttle flight that demonstrated NASA had overcome the launch debris threat responsible for Columbia’s breakup. The loss forced NASA to suspend station construction.
Source : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4205572.html