http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200903/20090329473628.html
結束13天飛行任務 發現號太空梭安返地球
法新社╱簡長盛 2009-03-29 06:20
（法新社佛羅里達州卡納維爾角28日電）美國航空暨太空總署（NASA）說，發現號太空梭和7名太空人已成功結束13天的飛行任務，安全降落佛羅里達州甘迺迪太空中心。
在9天的停靠國際太空站期間，發現號太空梭組員放下太空站的新組員若田光一，並且接回太空站太空人馬格諾斯 (Sandra Magnus)。
太空梭在越過中美洲和墨西哥灣上空後，在響徹甘迺迪太空中心，象徵勝利的雙音爆聲中安全降落。
重達百噸的太空梭從距離地球350公里的太空降落地球大約花了一小時多一點的時間。由於登陸地點的甘迺迪太空中心上空雲層太低和有強風，航太總署曾取消了這艘龐大太空梭笫一次降落的計劃。（譯者：簡長盛）
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090328/sc_afp/usjapanspaceshuttle5thlead_20090328233114;_ylt=AmkVGHDsmFTLemJti4JfuEnPOrgF
Discovery ends mission with successful landing
by Jean-Louis Santini – Sat Mar 28, 7:30 pm ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) – The space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven safely landed in Florida on Saturday after completing its mission to install solar arrays aboard the orbiting International Space Station.
The shuttle's arrival, after shooting above Central America and the Gulf of Mexico, was announced with a triumphant double sonic boom that shook the air above the Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
The hundred-tonne glider descended for just over an hour from an altitude of 217 miles (350 kilometers), after NASA had previously scrapped their first landing attempt 1.5 hours earlier because of weather concerns.
The shuttle's wheels hit the runway under a grey sky at 1913 GMT, NASA said, ending its 13-day mission. Seconds later it deployed its red and white rear parachute to help slow down the speedy landing.
"The wheels have stopped," said Commander Lee Archambault when the craft finally came to a halt.
"Copy Discovery," answered Mission Control in Houston, Texas. "Welcome home Discovery after a great mission of powering the International Space Station."
"Thank you," Archambault said, "It's good to be back home."
The shuttle's landing was mostly operated automatically by onboard computers, until flight controls were passed over for a manual descent the last three minutes.
Discovery landed just a few hours after a Russian Soyuz capsule carrying second-time space tourist Charles Simonyi along with a US and a Russian astronaut docked at the ISS.
The US space shuttle undocked from the ISS on Wednesday, cutting short its mission by one day to make way for the Russian craft.
During Discovery's nine-day stay at the ISS, the shuttle team dropped off new crew member Koichi Wakata -- the first Japanese long-stay resident of the space station -- and picked up US astronaut Sandra Magnus for her return to Earth.
After docking at the ISS on March 17, one of Discovery's main tasks was to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the 100 billion dollar station, which were successfully unfurled March 20.
The ISS now has four solar panels, two per wing, containing 32,800 cells that convert sunlight into electricity.
The final set of solar arrays boosts the outpost's full power generation from 90 to 120 kilowatts, providing enough power to carry out experiments in the European Columbus laboratory and Japan's Kibo lab.
The extra power will also allow the space station's permanent crew to increase to six in May.
The astronauts also brought back samples of water produced by the space station's recycling unit that processes astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water after Discovery took up a replacement part.
The machine, which was delivered to the ISS in November -- and has not yet functioned properly -- is key to sustaining a bigger crew on the orbiting station and for long-term space expeditions, such as moon landings or missions to Mars.
Carrying large amounts of water aboard the shuttle or other space vessels is expensive and takes up room needed for other equipment.
The next manned space launch, for the shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for May 12 in a final mission to repair and maintain the Hubble Space Telescope.
Eight more shuttle launches are scheduled up to September 30, 2010 -- the retirement date for the orbiter crafts.
During the mission, the shuttle crew and ISS residents enjoyed a 30-minute video conference call Tuesday from the White House with President Barack Obama and a group of Washington schoolchildren.
Space-fan Obama, also flanked by lawmakers, peppered the crew with questions, wanting to know everything about life in space from the latest mission of the Discovery space shuttle to fitness, food and hairstyles.
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