The U.S. space agency NASA says the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis has been delayed by at least one day, to Thursday.
NASA says the decision was made because of unfavorable weather conditions and concern about an unknown object floating near the orbiter.
Earlier Tuesday, shuttle astronauts packed gear and checked flight controls as they made preparations to return home after their mission to the International Space Station.
The Atlantis crew also participated in a conference call with the crews on the space station and a Soyuz spacecraft heading to the station.
The Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the station Wednesday. It is carrying a three-person crew that includes the first female space tourist, Iranian-American Anousheh Ansari.
Astronaut Jeff Williams joked from the space station Tuesday that it is a little crowded in the sky.
During its mission, the Atlantis crew successfully carried out three challenging spacewalks to install a pair of solar wings on the station. It was the first construction mission since shuttle flights were grounded in 2003 after the shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry, killing all seven astronauts on board.
On Monday, the crew of the space station detected a spill of a toxic irritant, potassium hydroxide, which set off a short-lived emergency. NASA says the crewmembers’ lives were never in any danger.
– VOA News
