The shuttle Atlantis was unable to land on Thursday due to bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center landing site.  Thunderstorms and rain caused the cancellation of the shuttle, forcing it to land a day later than expected.  NASA had two landing times scheduled, but both were scrubbed to keep everyone involved in shuttle landing.

Atlantis astronauts received this message from NASA mission control:  "We looked as long and hard as we think is reasonable and the rain showers and (cloud) ceilings are going to keep us from making it into Florida."

After waving off the scheduled landing in Florida on Friday, NASA sent shuttle Atlantis to California's Edwards Air Force Base.  The shuttle landed at 3:49 p.m. local time.  NASA prefers landing in Florida because it costs $2 million to transport the shuttle from California to Florida.  The shuttle will remain in California for one week, and then will be ferried home on top of a modified jumbo jet.

"Welcome back, congratulations on a great mission," is what the Atlantis crew heard after the shuttle was safely on the ground yesterday.    

During the 14-day mission, shuttle astronauts installed two solar panels and successfully started a rotating joint which will allow the solar arrays to follow the sun's movements.

After celebrating the successful shuttle mission of the year, NASA will now put more focus on pending space exploration plans that include the moon and Mars.