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Space shuttle lands at Kennedy Space Center, not Tampa

The Associated Press

A family watches as the space shuttle Discovery, riding on a Boeing 747, approached Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Sunday.

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TBO.com

Published: September 21, 2009

Updated: 09/21/2009 12:10 pm

TAMPA - The space shuttle has landed at Kennedy Space Center after all.

The shuttle, which landed in California on Sept. 11, was ferried back to the Kennedy Space Center atop a modified 747 aircraft.

But up until the very last minute, NASA officials were keeping a close eye on clouds on Florida's east coast. The weather had them considering diverting the flight to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. At noon, NASA said the weather at Kennedy Space Center had cleared and gave the go-ahead for a landing. The jet and the shuttle touched down at 12:05 p.m, according to NASA's Twitter feed.

Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after completing a two-week, 5.7 million-mile mission to the International Space Station. It's been ferried across the country in short hops. The jet and shuttle left Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La., at 9:40 a.m. today bound for the space center.

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