Jul 15, 2006, 13:51 GMT
Washington - The US space shuttle Discovery on Saturday undocked from the International Space Station and embarked on its two-day return flight to Earth.
The International Space Station from the Space Shuttle Discovery after it undocked, Saturday 15 July 2006. Space Shuttle Discovery ended STS-121’s stay at the International Space Station when it undocked at 6:08 a.m. EDT Saturday 15 July 2006. Mission STS-121 delivered a new Expedition 13 crew member and much needed supplies and equipment to the international outpost. The shuttle crew also conducted three spacewalks to perform maintenance on the station and to test on-orbit heat shield repair techniques. Pilot Mark Kelly flew Discovery to a point above the station before performing the final separation burn. Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center Monday 17 July 2006. EPA/NASA/TV
The undocking manoeuvre, which occurred around 400 kilometres above the Earth and north of New Zealand, was broadcast live by NASA Television and proceeded without complications, NASA said.
Ground control wished the six astronauts a 'Good return flight.'
The space shuttle is expected to land at Cape Canaveral space centre in Florida at 13.07 GMT on Monday at the end of its 13-day mission.
The pilot Mark Kelly steered Saturday the shuttle away from the space station in slow motion - around three metres per minute at first.
After the first burners ignited, he initially held the Discovery a few hundred metres above the space station to allow cameras on the ISS to conduct a last visual inspection of the shuttle's insulation tiles.
The space shuttle and ISS orbit the earth every 92 minutes at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour.
German astronaut Thomas Reiter, 48, remained aboard the ISS for the next six months and together with US national Jeffrey Williams and Russian Pavel Vinogradov.
The Discovery began its return flight to Earth with six astronauts aboard. It is also transporting 2.3 tons of rubbish, defect and unrequired parts for the ISS. So far the flight has gone smoothly. The heat shield did not sustain any external impact damage during take-off.
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it was re- entering the earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew aboard.
Investigators then said the disaster had been caused by insulating foam falling from the external fuel tank during launch and hitting the shuttle's wing, compromising the heat shield required to protect it during re-entry.
Last summer, the protective heat shielding tiles were again damaged during the first launch since the Columbia disaster. They were repaired on the outside while the shuttle was docked to the ISS.
The next space shuttle launch is scheduled for August 28 when the Atlantis will bring four huge solar energy panels to the ISS.
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