May 29 2000
From The Space Library
Atlantis touched down at KSC in Cape Canaveral, Florida, only the 14th time that a NASA Shuttle had landed in darkness. NASA controllers used infrared cameras to monitor the Shuttle's final descent. The return of the Shuttle ended the crucial mission to repair the ISS and reset the space station's orbit to an optimal altitude. NASA's Mission Control, congratulating the crew on a "super mission," began almost immediately to anticipate the flurry of missions that would finally complete construction on the ISS. Atlantis had sustained minor damage during the trip, mainly dents and scratches on its wings caused by ice. Three members of the returning crew, astronauts Susan J. Helms and James S. Voss and cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev, had a special interest in monitoring the ISS's completion, because they had been selected for the second research crew to the ISS and would make a long-term stay aboard the research station.
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