Columbia landed smoothly on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 33 at 4:32 a.m. EST on March 12, 2002. All of the crew members have returned to Astronaut Crew Quarters.

How are the weather conditions for today's planned landing at KSC?

Check out our landing video coverage!
Pre-Launch Day and Launch Day videos are available. All video clips are offered in medium bandwidth (56K) or high bandwidth (cable/broadband) downloadable versions.

Find out more about the STS - 109 Mission and Crew.

As the processing and launch site of the Space Shuttle, NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is the preferred end-of-mission landing site for the Shuttle orbiter. Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California is the prime alternate site.

Landing the orbiter at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) instead of at EAFB saves at least an estimated three-quarter of a million dollars and about five days of processing time for its next mission. A KSC landing also eliminates the necessity of exposing the orbiter, a national resource, to the uncertainties and potential dangers of a cross-country ferry trip atop one of NASA's two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

Although a single landing strip, the SLF is considered two runways, depending on the approach: from either the northwest on Runway 15 or from the southeast on Runway 33.

Did You Know?

Unlike launches for which a "go" for liftoff can be given within minutes of changing weather conditions during the launch window, the landing site must be chosen more than an hour before touchdown, when the deorbit burn takes place. A switch in sites usually can be made up to 90 minutes prior to landing.

Prelaunch Day Videos | Launch Day Videos | Live Countdown Coverage | Landing Videos