Why did the space shuttle endeavour blow up during landing?”
After 16 days in space, 225 miles up, where American and Japanese astronauts worked side by side at the International Space Station, the space shuttle Endeavor has finally landed safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The returning astronaut’s heard U2’s “Beautiful Day” as they woke up this morning, ready to come back to Earth after a successful mission. Part of the biggest group ever gathered in space, the 13 crew members made upgrades and installations to a Japanese laboratory, including outdoor cameras and telescopes. The spacewalkers also replaced batteries, rewired circuitry for the station’s steering mechanism and repaired thermal coverings.
It may have gotten off to a rocky start, but the space shuttle Endeavour’s sixteen days in orbit came to a flawless end Friday when the craft glided through overcast skies to a perfect landing at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. “It’s a great day to be here at (Kennedy),” said commander Mark Polansky, as he and his six crewmates departed the runway after descending more than 100,000 feet at speeds greater than 1,000 MPH through the Earth’s atmosphere. Endeavour’s wheels touched the tarmac at Kennedy at 10:48 a.m. EDT, according to NASA. The smooth landing belied a mission that seemed doomed never to leave the ground. STS-127 launched on July 15, but only after days of delays caused by mechanical and weather problems. There were glitches in space as well. On a lighter note, the astronauts were forced to share facilities with the crew of the International Space Station after one of the ISS’s pricey, hi-tech toilets malfunctioned. More seriously, NASA ground controllers were concerned that
