EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (Reuters) - The space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts returned to Earth safely on Tuesday, successfully completing NASA's troubled resumption of human space flight 2 1/2 years after the Columbia disaster.
NASA officials appeared visibly relieved after the problem-free landing, which may be the shuttle's last flight for some time. The fleet was grounded after the U.S. space agency's recent safety upgrades failed to prevent Discovery from shedding insulating foam at launch, the same problem that doomed Columbia.