spacetoday.net: Shuttle lands in California

Posted: Wed, Jun 19, 2002, 3:17 PM ET (1917 GMT)
STS-111 landing of Endeavour (NASA)

The space shuttle Endeavour safely landed in California after weather conditions prevented a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour touched down on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California at 1:58 pm EDT (1758 GMT), completing the STS-111 mission to ISS. The unofficial elapsed time of the mission, from launch to wheels stop, was 13 days, 20 hours 35 minutes, and 56 seconds. NASA made several attempts to land Endeavour in Florida to avoid delays transporting the orbiter back from California, but weather conditions prevented landing attempts since Monday. The effect of the California landing on Endeavour's next mission STS-113, is unknown: the mission is scheduled for an early October launch but could slip until November because of the California landing and a Soyuz taxi mission scheduled for launch in late October. NASA also wanted a Florida landing so that the Expedition Four crew, returning to Earth after 196 days on the station, could immediately be reunited with their families there.