As Shuttle Returns to Earth, Tourist Adjusts to Space Station

avoiding rain and wind in Florida, the space shuttle Endeavour landed today in the Mojave Desert of California as crews aboard the International Space Station enjoyed a relaxed workload while entertaining the first space tourist.

The Endeavour, with its crew of seven, landed at Edwards Air Force Base at 12:10 p.m. eastern time, completing a successful 12-day mission to the station. Rain and wind at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prevented a landing there, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration opted to bring the ship down at Edwards, where skies were sunny and clear.

The shuttle delivered a $1 billion, Canadian-made 58-foot robotic arm and about 6,000 pounds of supplies to the space station. It stayed an extra day to help the station recover from severe computer problems last week that affected its main command and control system.

All three computers at the station were working today, but not at peak capacity. Astronauts aboard and technicians on the ground continued to troubleshoot problems with software and hard-disk storage devices.

Capt. Kent V. Rominger of the Navy, the Endeavour's commander, acknowledged the mission's difficulties after leading his crew home, saying, . ''It's great to be back, and we want to express our gratitude to all the folks on the ground who made that mission pull off like it did.''

Aboard the space station, the crew of Yury V. Usachev, the Russian commander, and two Americans, Col. Susan B. Helms of the Air Force and James S. Voss, worked a more relaxed schedule after a hectic week.

Even before the computer troubles, the crew was to have had a reduced workload this week because Dennis Tito, the American financier, is aboard, part of the three-man crew of a Soyuz spacecraft that arrived on Sunday to trade their ship for an older one that has been the station's lifeboat for six months.

Mr. Tito said today at a Russian news conference that his visit was more exciting than he had imagined. ''I will do my best to communicate to people how great an experience this is,'' he said. ''One does not have to be superhuman to adapt to space.

''It's very doable. Unfortunately, it's very expensive at this point, but there are others who can afford this, and I would like to encourage it.''

Mr. Tito praised the astronauts at the station, saying he had been made to feel at home.

Mr. Tito said he had a brief bout with space sickness, the nausea and vomiting that strikes many first-time astronauts as they adjust to weightlessness, in the two days between the Soyuz liftoff and the docking with the station. He said he had felt fine since.