Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member crew landed on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:07 a.m. CST today, completing a 13-day journey of more than 5,296,842 miles. Atlantis touched down at exactly 8:07:10 a.m. with the nose gear touching down at 8:07:20 a.m. Wheels stop occurred at 8:08:08 a.m.

The seven astronauts on space shuttle Atlantis are only hours away from a landing in Florida that will conclude a successful 13-day mission that delivered the European Space Agency’s science laboratory Columbus to the International Space Station.

After a check of all of the systems they will use for a return to Earth, Atlantis’ seven-member crew packed up today in preparation for landing Wednesday. Atlantis is planned to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:07 a.m. CST with the forecast of near perfect weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle would fire its engines to begin a descent to Florida at 7 a.m.

Atlantis’ seven-member crew will complete the final preparations today for their return home, wrapping up their 13-day mission with a scheduled early Wednesday morning landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew’s 11:45 p.m. CST Monday wake-up call was the Spamalot rendition of “Always Look on the Bright Side” played for STS-122 Commander Steve Frick.

Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 3:24 a.m. CST after nine days of joint operations. Atlantis and the seven-member crew left behind the station’s new European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus laboratory and ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts to prepare science experiments inside for operation.

Space shuttle Atlantis is set to undock from the International Space Station at 3:27 a.m. after nine days of joint operations carrying the seven-member crew that successfully commissioned the European Space Agency’s new Columbus science laboratory.

The ten spaceflight crew members parted ways to their respective spacecraft today. After farewells were said, hatches between the space shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station were closed at 12:03 p.m. CST. Atlantis’ crew is scheduled to leave the space station on Monday, with undocking slated for 3:27 a.m. The departure sets up Atlantis for its scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday at 8:07 a.m.

The seven-member crew of Atlantis will complete the final cargo transfers, wrap up their part in the installation and activation of the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory, and then bid farewell to the Expedition 16 crew this morning. Farewells are scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m., followed by hatch closing at 11:30 a.m.

Outfitting of the International Space Station Columbus module experiment racks continued today with all 10 crew members working to complete the activation and initialization of the newest addition to the station. Earlier in the day, space shuttle Atlantis’ propulsion system was used to reboost the station’s altitude by about 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) – the first reboost of the station using shuttle thrusters since 2002.

The 10 crew members aboard the International Space Station/space shuttle Atlantis complex today will continue with the outfitting of the new Columbus research module, give the station a reboost to get it ready for its next visitors and spend some time talking with reporters on Earth.