Cool picture of Shuttle Atlantis

[Rico]

Check this out.  It's the NASA picture of the day (up on my main page now too).....

[Rico]

Atlantis, Welcome Home!

Space shuttle Atlantis' drag chute slowed down the craft as it landed on Runway 15 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center after a nearly 5.3 million mile round trip to the International Space Station.

The shuttle landed on orbit 202 to complete the 13-day STS-122 mission on Feb. 20, 2008. Main gear touchdown was 9:07:10 a.m. Nose gear touchdown was 9:07:20 a.m. Wheel stop was at 9:08:08 a.m. Mission elapsed time was 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes and 44 seconds. During the mission, Atlantis' crew installed the new Columbus laboratory, leaving a larger space station and one with increased science capabilities. The Columbus Research Module adds nearly 1,000 cubic feet of habitable volume and affords room for 10 experiment racks, each an independent science lab.

Image Credit: NASA/Kevin O'Connell