Shuttle Ends 12-Day Orbit With Rare Night Landing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —  Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew returned to Earth in triumph late Tuesday, ending NASA’s first space station-building mission.

It was a rare nighttime landing.

Endeavour swooped through the clear, chilly sky and landed on the xenon-lit runway at 10:53 p.m.

“Thanks a lot for an awesome job starting our space station adventure,” Mission Control told the six astronauts, calling out each of their names, as soon as the shuttle rolled to a neat stop.

“It’s great to be home after such an exciting mission,” replied commander Robert Cabana.

Throughout the afternoon, thick rain clouds had hovered over the landing strip. But the sky cleared by dusk, and Mission Control gave Cabana the go-ahead for an on-time touchdown.

NASA’s weather rules are especially stringent for nighttime landings. This was only the 10th time in 17 1/2 years of space shuttle flight that astronauts returned in darkness.

Endeavour resembled a comet as it streaked over the Gulf of Mexico and across Florida, its path tracked by infrared cameras.

Cabana and his crew were ready for a holiday break following their journey, which spanned nearly 12 days and 4.6 million miles.

Before exiting the shuttle, they were warned it was a nippy 48 degrees outside. “Must be getting close to Christmas,” answered Cabana.

The five Americans and one Russian set the cornerstone for the international space station by joining the Russian-built Zarya control module and the American-made Unity connecting chamber.

Two of the astronauts--Jerry Ross and James Newman--made three spacewalks to wire Zarya and Unity together and attach antennas and other equipment.

It was the first of 36 space shuttle flights that NASA estimates will be needed over the next five years to build the 16-nation space station. The next construction mission is in May.