Shuttle seeks clear return window

Published: Aug 09, 2005
Source: news.bbc.co.uk



The crew of the American space shuttle, Discovery, are preparing to return to Earth in the next few hours.

Nasa will now attempt to land the shuttle in California after bad weather at its intended Florida landing site.

Nasa hoped to land the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but it will now try for a landing at Edwards Air Force Base at 1312 BST (0812 EST).

But Nasa would need to spend $1m on returning the shuttle from California to Florida where it launches from.

Discovery will also need to land at night; the touch down at runway 22 at Edwards occurs about 53 minutes before dawn in California.

It would take at least a week to load Discovery on to its 747 carrier and return it to Florida.continue..