Atlantis Lands Safely in Calif.

Stormy Florida weather prompted NASA to go to Plan B
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2009 10:46 AM CDT
Atlantis Lands Safely in Calif.
Low clouds and a light rain fall over the Vehicle Assembly Building May 22, 2009 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA moved the landing to sunny California.   (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

With weather conditions in Florida remaining too soggy for a safe shuttle landing, Atlantis instead touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California this morning. This was the 53rd west-coast landing for a space shuttle, a $2 million decision made easy by the balmy conditions in the Mojave Desert. Atlantis will make it back to Kennedy Space Center on the back of a modified 747.
(More Atlantis Space Shuttle stories.)

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