Categories: Space Shuttle

Shuttle Atlantis Returns Home (Video)

Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts landed safely at Kennedy Space Center Friday morning at 9:44 a.m. EST, ending an 11-day journey to the ISS. The Atlantis shuttle flew 171 orbits around Earth and traveled 7,226,176 kilometers (4,490,138 miles) since its Nov. 16 launch. STS-129 was the 129th space shuttle mission, the 31st for Atlantis and the 31st shuttle mission to the International Space Station. It was the fifth and final flight of 2009. Enjoy the landing video!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/