The space shuttle Atlantis glided to a picture-perfect landing Friday morning under bright, sunny skies at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The seven-person crew returned after an 11-day mission to deliver key spare parts to prolong the life of the international space station. The original six-member crew, with flight engineer Nicole Stott -- who launched in August -- returned amid sunny, clear Florida weather."Couldn't have picked a clearer day," commander Charles Hobaugh said as the shuttle approached the way. Mission Control told Hobaugh that the landing was a "picture-perfect end" to the mission. "Everybody, welcome back to Earth, especially you, Nicole," Mission Control said.
Stott had spent 87 days on the international space station, according to NASA. About an hour after the shuttle landed, the crew transport vehicle moved alongside the orbiter access hatch on Atlantis' port side, NASA said on its Web site. With the crew hatch opened, the astronauts left the orbiter to enter the vehicle.
It contains beds and comfortable seats so the astronauts can receive a brief medical checkup before they step onto the tarmac, NASA said.
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