CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.–Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts are headed to California.
Dangerously high wind and a dark, stormy sky prevented Endeavour from returning to its home base in Florida on Sunday. With a gloomy outlook for Monday as well, Mission Control instructed the astronauts to head for sunny Edwards Air Force Base, the backup landing site.
Touchdown is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. EST. It will be the first space shuttle landing at Edwards in more than a year. NASA prefers ending shuttle flights at Kennedy Space Center because it takes about a week and costs $1.8 million to transport a space shuttle back from California.
Endeavour and its crew are wrapping up a 16-day trip that left the international space station freshly remodelled and capable of housing bigger crews.
