Space shuttle Discovery touched down on Kennedy Space Center's three-mile runway today at 12:05 p.m., ending a two-day ferry flight from California atop a modified 747 jumbo jet. Thick clouds and showers nearly diverted the piggybacked aircraft to Tampa, but pilots made a last-minute decision to return the shuttle to its home port after a pathfinder plane scouted out the weather ahead.
The unpredictable weather did not allow Discovery to do a low-flying cruise up and down the Space Coast as had been planned if conditions were better. The shuttle approached from the south, landing on KSC's Runway 33.
Discovery will soon be towed to a large gantry-like structure called the Mate/De-Mate Device, or MDD, where it will be hoisted from the back of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in preparation for its return to a processing hangar. Discovery took off from Edwards Air Force Base at sunrise Sunday.
The ferry flight made stops in Amarillo and Fort Worth, Tex., before spending the night at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La.
Weather kept the flight from resuming until 9:40 a.m. EDT. Despite the challenging conditions, Discovery returned home ahead of the projected two-hour, 45-minute flight time.
Discovery landed in California on Sept. 11, avoiding more stormy weather in Florida, to end a 14-day mission to the International Space Station.
IMAGES: Top photo from James Dean's cell phone as Discovery flew over Kennedy Space Center seconds before landing. The rest are screen grabs from NASA TV. 
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