Discovery and its crew of seven landed safely back to Earth on Tuesday, ending a 14-day test of space shuttle safety that was shadowed by the disaster two and a half years ago of the shuttle Columbia. Discovery swooped through the predawn darkness and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert at 5:11 a.m. PDT, concluding the first shuttle re-entry since Columbia's tragic return. The detour to California came because thunderstorms prevented the shuttle from returning to its home base at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Larry Mantle talks with NASA’s Jim Rostohar and LA Times staff writer John Johnson, Jr. about the significance the successful shuttle landing.
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