Shuttle Endeavour, 7 astronauts return to Earth
7/31/2009CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts are back on Earth.
Endeavour landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center late Friday morning after a 16-day mission that saw them complete all their major construction goals at the international space station.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is back after four-and-a-half months in space. He says he can't wait to eat some sushi and see his wife and son.
Japan's space station lab got a porch for experiments during Endeavour's visit. The crew also installed fresh batteries and stockpiled big spare parts.
It was eventful in other ways. The astronauts celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing with their own spacewalk. They also coped with a flooded toilet and an overheated air-purifier.