10:40pm UK, Tuesday August 09, 2005

The Discovery shuttle commander has said she and her crew are "glad to be back" on Earth.

Commander Eileen Collins and her fellow astronauts touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 1.11pm UK time.

180 2 touchdown florida discovery shuttle landing

Discovery touches down

They had been in space for almosttwo weeks.

Speaking with the crew by her side at the air base, Cmdr Collins said: "We have had a fantastic mission."

But she added: "We are so glad to be able to come back and say it was successsful."

Cmdr Collins and Pilot James Kelly fired up the steering jets at 12.06pm to get Discovery out of orbit and into an unpowered glide toward the ground.

"Congratulations on a truly spectacular test flight," mission control said once Discovery came to a stop. "Welcome home, friends."

"We're happy to be back and we congratulate the whole team for a job well done," Cmdr Collins replied.

Thunderstorms near the preferred landing strip at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida forced mission control to send Discovery to the air base in the Mojave Desert.

The landing brings to a close NASA's first shuttle mission since Discovery's sister ship, Columbia, exploded on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes from landing.

Discovery made its final approach over the Pacific and into Southern California.

NASA officials adjusted the flight path so the shuttle would skirt Los Angeles, because of new public safety considerations in the wake of the Columbia accident.