From the Johnson Space Centre in Texas to Capitol Hill in Washington DC, the relief was obvious when space shuttle Discovery safely returned to terra firma.

Discovery and its crew of seven streaked toward a California landing today on the first shuttle re-entry since Coumbia’s tragic return, after thunderstorms in Florida prevented the spacecraft from returning to its home base.

Space shuttles will not fly again until next year, and when one does lift off on the first post-Columbia mission, another will be on standby for a potential rescue mission.

CREWS combed suburban gardens and remote Texas woodlands for the remains of space shuttle Columbia yesterday as experts focused on a heat surge on the left side of the doomed spacecraft in the early investigation of why it disintegrated.