A Safe Landing After a Dramatic Flight

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) —Space shuttle Atlantis and its six astronauts glided to a safe landing in darkness early Thursday, ending a 12-day mission whose smooth success was briefly upstaged by the high drama caused by mysterious floating debris.

"Nice to be back. It was a great team effort," said commander Brent Jett immediately after a 6:21 a.m. touchdown at Kennedy Space Center.

More than 1.5 hours after landing, the astronauts, all wearing broad grins, left the shuttle to greet NASA administrator Michael Griffin and other agency officials. Then they walked under Atlantis to inspect the shuttle's heat shield.