Discovery has landed
 

I just watched it live, they didn't blow Andy up.

And it landed at Edwards too... so we'll probably get to see a shuttle strapped to a 767 soon.

Here's how they did it in 1996:

http://www.spacepix.net/shuttle/atlantis_747.htm

Excellent.....I am so very glad this went off without a hitch (well maybe a couple small ones)

I'm so glad it landed safely, becuase had it not, the jokes about women drivers would have been a bit much... :)

Whew!...I'm glad it's safely back on Terra Firma. Can you imagine the pucker factor when it started it's descent? NASA's gonna have to replace some armrests.

Good thing they are down safely, but now its costing them an extra million dollars to complete the mission...

Well thank god for that. I was worried.

Obviously it was a man flying it this time :D sorry maleficent couldnt resist :)

this is good, but if I heard correctly arent they still going to scrap future missions for a while due ro losing some heat tiles?

I was really hoping for a successful landing, because the Fark headline on Monday was too clever to be true: "Shuttle explosion delayed until Tuesday". *wince*

Whee! Piggyback ride!

I watched the landing live on BBC, amazing how watching a glowing blob can be so exciting. Lots of good news lately, first the submarine crew and now a safe shuttle landing. I like! It was funny to hear the grumbling about how it'll cost a few million dollars more landing there, I mean compared with the billions the space program has cost already?

man that big boom scared the crap out of me and im about 130 miles away from Edwards AFB

sweet!

i'm so happy to see this go well. i know there are still more problems to be worked out, but i really do think it's important to have a space program, and i'm glad to see NASA pull one off.

as we are doing concrete work in benton, la. we are all at condidtion high in the hopes of seeing this....

http://ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=3701929&nav=0RY4d8ed

The B-52's on the flight line of Barksdale Air Force Base might have some company in the coming days -- the space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will be flown from California to Florida atop a modified Boeing 747. Barksdale is a possible location for the aircraft to stop for refueling. A Barksdale spokeswoman says it will likely be several more days before they know for sure if the shuttle will make a stop there. A NASA spokeswoman says it is hard to predict exactly where the refueling stops will happen because of changing weather conditions that could force alternate flight paths back to Florida. Thunderstorms in Florida Tuesday morning forced NASA to divert the shuttle to California for landing. The shuttle Atlantis was the last shuttle that Barksdale hosted during a refueling stop in March 2001. In April 1982, nearly 100,000 people gathered at Barksdale to see the space shuttle Columbia during a refueling stop. In 2003, Barksdale served as a collection site for debris from the shuttle Columbia after it broke apart over east Texas and parts of northwest Louisiana. NASA says Discovery will likely be flown back to Florida in a window between Saturday and next Tuesday. The cost of the piggyback flight is estimated to be $230,000, a NASA spokeswoman said.


my camera is at ready at all times...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...14_Landing.jpg
(click pic for large version)