Space Shuttle Lands Safely

Space shuttle Atlantis landed on a concrete runway at this desert air base today, returning from a week in orbit and a historic first test of construction techniques that will help shape an American space station.

Atlantis, with its seven-member crew, blazed through the Earth’s atmosphere in a long, fiery glide from a 218 mile-high orbit, crossed the California coastline north of Los Angeles and touched down at 1:34 p.m. under partly cloudy skies. Five thousand spectators were on hand to watch the landing.