Discovery touches down in Florida

The space shuttle Discovery has landed successfully at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The shuttle touched down at 7.20pm BST.

The landing was delayed for around two hours because of poor weather.

Discovery and its crew of seven had to take an extra swing around the world because of the cloud and rain near the landing strip.

Mission Control gave Discovery's pilots the final go-ahead to fire their braking rockets with only minutes to spare.

"A close call," said NASA commentator Rob Navias.

Discovery left the space station on Monday after dropping off a fresh three-man crew and retrieving commander Yuri Usachev and his crew mates, Jim Voss and Susan Helms.

Their adventure, as they call it, began with their launch aboard Discovery back in March and lasted 167 days.

"Welcome home to all of you, and especially Yuri, Susan and Jim. It's great to have you back on Earth," Mission Control said after Discovery rolled to a safe stop.

Usachev, Voss and Helms face at least six weeks of rehabilitation. Muscles and bones weaken in weightlessness, and the immune system becomes depressed.