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Discovery Lands in Florida

By the Associated Press

Posted Mar 28, 2009 2:17 PM CDT

(AP) – Shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth today and successfully wrapped up a construction mission that left the international space station with all its solar wings and extra electrical power. Discovery swooped through a cloudy sky and landed at NASA's spaceport in midafternoon, a little later than initially planned. "Welcome home, Discovery, after a great mission," Mission Control radioed.

"It's good to be back home," said Discovery's commander, Lee Archambault. Mission Control delayed Discovery's homecoming by about 90 minutes because of windy, cloudy weather. But the wind shifted and conditions improved enough for the second and final landing opportunity of the day.

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Space shuttle Discovery is seen from the international space station with the earth in the background after undocking from the space station, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA TV)

Space Shuttle Discovery's crew cabin is seen in this NASA photo. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA shows the Space Shuttle Discovery with clouds on earth drifting behind it Tuesday March 17, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA)

A Kennedy Space Center fire truck starts it's engine sending smoke into the air as the space shuttle Discovery prepares to land on Saturday March 28, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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