DISCOVERY and its crew returned to Earth yesterday and concluded a 15-day space station build and repair mission that was among the most challenging — and heroic — in shuttle history.

AFTER a week-and-a-half of intense and unprecedented work, astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station yesterday to begin their two-day journey home.

Astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery and the international space station joined forces, linking their ships and kicking off the biggest construction job ever attempted by a single team in orbit.