The crew of NASA's Discovery has disembarked from the spacecraft after it landed safely in California.
The shuttle touched down at 5.12am this morning local time - 1.12pm Irish time - in what has been described as a perfect landing.
Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, returning to Earth after the first shuttle mission since the destruction of sister ship Columbia in 2003.
The landing had been due to take place at Kennedy Space Station in Florida but was switched to the base in the Mojave Desert in California because of clouds and rain looming over Cape Canaveral.
Discovery’s 14-day mission included a stay at the International Space Station. There were seven astronauts on board the shuttle.
The Columbia shuttle disintegrated over Texas on 1 February 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.
The disaster was blamed on a piece of insulating foam that broke off during launch and punched a hole in the shuttle’s wing.
The shuttle fleet is grounded until the insulating foam problem has been solved. NASA is optimistic of finding a solution and has tentatively scheduled 22 September for the next launch.
