Before the US space shuttle Discovery can embark on a mission to rewire the international space station, Nasa engineers have to resolve two late technical worries – a brief power surge and potential problems with a glue that helps seal rocket boosters.

DISCOVERY and its crew of seven glided safely back to Earth yesterday, ending a riveting, at times agonising, 14-day test of space shuttle safety that was shadowed by the ghosts of Columbia.

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery were ready to put on the brakes today and begin descending from orbit with hopes of having their feet back on the ground before daybreak.

After orbiting the Earth for 13 days, astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery have been told to circle the planet once more early today as Nasa delayed their landing because of bad weather in Florida.

After circling the Earth for 13 days, astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery powered up their spacecraft early today and awaited word from Mission Control to fire their braking rockets and head for home.

Just two days before Columbia’s mysterious break-up during its fiery descent, a safety engineer warned by e-mail about risks of “catastrophic” failures from extreme heat causing the shuttle’s tyres to burst inside the spacecraft, Nasa has disclosed.

The final moments on board space shuttle Columbia were revealed today as Nasa published transcripts of its last radio contacts with mission control.

One focus of attention in the investigation into the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia is possible damage to its protective thermal tiles on the left wing from a flying piece of debris during lift-off on January 16.

Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames over Texas today, killing all seven astronauts just 16 minutes before they were supposed to land in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas today minutes before it was to land in Florida.