After a total journey of 122 million miles and 25 perfect missions, Endeavour has landed in the dark. She was the youngest in the space shuttle fleet. This is how she arrived home.
As Mark E. Kelly – the commander of the mission – said after being welcomed by Houston’s flight control:
It’s sad to see her land for the last time, but she really had a great legacy.
Indeed, she was a great ship. When it came out of the assembly line, she incorporated upgrades that no other shuttle had, like a revamped avionics system. Now, after spending 296 days in space, she has finally been grounded.
Thank you for all the fish, Endeavour, and thank you everyone who made this beauty fly through all these years. You will be dearly missed.