Atlantis Lands in Florida to Escape California Winds

The space shuttle Atlantis, diverted from a windy California desert landing strip, swooped out of thin clouds over Florida on Tuesday and coasted to a smooth end to its secret five-day mission.

The shuttle had been scheduled to land a day earlier at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., but was sent here because of winds and overnight rains in California.

After landing without incident at 4:42 p.m. EST, the Atlantis’ five crew members were given a hearty greeting by Mission Control: “Welcome home. It sure was a beautiful sight.”

Hundreds of spectators lined the roads leading to the Kennedy Space Center, eager to get a glimpse of the sleek white craft. And, when its twin sonic booms thundered through the air just before touchdown, the crowd cheered.

The landing was the first here for a shuttle since April 19, 1985, when Discovery suffered major brake problems and blew out a tire after touching down in high crosswinds.

With Tuesday’s safe landing, using redesigned brakes, National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials increasingly are considering greater use of Florida as a shuttle landing site.

At a postlanding news conference, Bill Lenoir, associate administrator for space flight, said NASA will conduct tests on brakes and other shuttle equipment, as well as study weather patterns, and that the results could lead to “more routinely” scheduling landings here.

“We really do think we have two prime landing sites,” Lenoir said.

Having shuttles land here, where their trips begin, saves NASA time and money, officials said--as much as eight days in turnaround time and about $500,000.

At the same time, the officials noted that the weather can be a problem here, just as it was this week in California.

The broader, “more forgiving” runway in the Mojave Desert is often cited as the reason Edwards Air Force Base is the preferred landing site for shuttles.

But the decision to land on the 2.8-mile, 300-feet-wide runway here gave NASA officials “no concern whatsoever,” Lenoir said.

The Atlantis flight was the 37th shuttle mission and the seventh and last to be conducted in total secrecy.

The shuttle’s Defense Department cargo reportedly was surveillance equipment designed to spy on Iraq, although private astronomers tracking the presumed spy satellite say its path is too far south--either by accident or design--to survey the Persian Gulf.

The five Atlantis crew members were Air Force Col. Richard Covey, the shuttle commander, Navy Cmdr. Frank Culbertson Jr., the co-pilot, and mission specialists Marine Col. Robert Springer, Air Force Lt. Col. Carl Meade and Army Maj. Charles Gemar. They did not speak with reporters and were to return to the Johnson Space Center in Texas