The space shuttle Atlantis began its journey back to Earth early Friday, dipping into the atmosphere after Mission Control gave the seven astronauts the all-clear to end their 11-day mission.
Atlantis commander Charlie Hobaugh and pilot Barry Wilmore aimed for the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they were expected to touchdown at 9:44 am (1444 GMT) to cap off their mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
"We look forward to seeing you on the deck pretty soon," Mission Control in Houston, Texas greeted the astronauts as they were awakened five hours before the landing decision.
During their successful voyage, the Atlantis crew delivered nearly 30,000 pounds (13,608 kilograms) of spare parts to the orbiting space station, including a pair of gyroscopes, thermal control system components and robot arm gear.
The outsized delivery was intended to fortify the orbiter for safe operations as well as scientific research long after NASA's shuttle fleet is retired.
Five shuttle missions remain, the last one scheduled for late September. ISS operations are scheduled to conclude by 2016.
However, a White House advisory panel has proposed to extend activities aboard the orbital outpost through 2020, a move supported by NASA's 14 international partners and many in Congress.
As Atlantis touches down, the US space agency will mark its fifth shuttle mission of 2009, the most it has achieved in a single year since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.
The doomed shuttle exploded over Texas in 2003, claiming the lives of seven astronauts, grounding the winged spacecraft for 30 months and interrupting what has become a difficult, 12-year effort to complete the assembly of the space station.
In Florida, sunny skies and a northerly headwinds awaited the return of Atlantis. Mission Control was so confident in the unusually favorable landing forecast that it decided against opening a backup runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Atlantis headed back to Earth with one more astronaut than when it launched on November 16 and a second astronaut eager to hold his newborn daughter for the first time since she was born while he was between spacewalks.
American Nicole Stott will end a 91-day mission as a space station flight engineer.
"It was really sad to leave the station and my crew mates there," said Stott. "But I get to go home and see my family. So, I'm really excited."
Stott said she was craving the Florida sunshine, a slice of New York style pizza and a Coca Cola with ice. Though equipped with three state of the art science labs, the space station lacks an ice maker.
Astronaut Randy Bresnik's wife, Rebecca, gave birth to a daughter, Abigail Mae, on November 21.
"I will be looking forward to that landing and Hobaugh making it as safe as possible probably more than anybody has in the space shuttle program," said Bresnik.
The Marine Corps test pilot launched into space after being assured he could monitor his wife's labor through Mission Control.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to miss their child's birth, but hopefully when she is older, she will forgive me for being absent," he said.
In addition to the astronauts, Atlantis is also returning with a half-dozen mice that have been aboard the space station since August.
The rodents served as subjects in an experiment that examined the loss of bone and muscle tissues that accompany long exposures to weightlessness. Half of the rodents died during the space study.
