Shuttle Lands After Sending Jupiter Probe

The space shuttle Atlantis glided over Malibu and touched down here under perfect weather conditions this morning, ending a flight that had been plagued by foul weather, real and predicted, at both ends of the mission.

Concerned that strong winds might threaten the landing, mission controllers brought the spacecraft down three hours early to take advantage of calm morning skies. The Atlantis landed at 9:32 a.m. on a clear, spectacular morning with only a slight breeze in the air.

“Congratulations, Atlantis, you’ve extended the shuttle’s reach to the outer planets,” Mission Control radioed the craft as it rolled slowly down the runway. The Atlantis launched the $1.4-billion Galileo spacecraft for Jupiter, the first spacecraft ever launched by a shuttle for one of the outer planets.

“Roger,” answered shuttle Commander Donald E. Williams. “It’s nice to be home.”

A relative handful of people were on hand to see the landing compared to the giant crowds of the past. Official estimates placed the size of the crowd at between 10,000 and 20,000 people.

The shuttle announced its arrival with twin sonic booms, caused by its delta wing configuration. Told that the crew could change out of their protective landing suits, Williams asked about the weather outside.

“It’s 57 degrees,” he was told.

The Atlantis landed amid increasing concern over the weather because of a strong storm system to the north that has drenched the earthquake-wracked San Francisco Bay Area. Officials were prepared to keep the craft on orbit until Wednesday if necessary, but alternative landing plans were being made for White Sands, N.M., and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida--neither of which is considered desirable.

Other members of the crew are Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, 39, a plasma physicist; Shannon W. Lucid, 46, a biochemist; Ellen S. Baker, 36, a physician-astronaut; and Michael J. McCulley, 46, the pilot. During their five-day mission, the crew carried out a number of experiments, including some aimed at increasing the understanding of a problem that has plagued most shuttle flights--space sickness.

But the primary objective was accomplished the first day of the mission when the Galileo spacecraft was sent on its six-year journey to Jupiter. By the time the shuttle had landed, Galileo was already more than a million miles on its way.