Atlantis prepares for return to Earth
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NASA managers kept close tabs on the weather Thursday as thunderstorms and low clouds threatened to prevent space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts from landing after a trip to the international space station.
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After a three-month delay, Atlantis is ready to blast off Friday on the first space shuttle mission of the year as NASA presses on with efforts to finish the International Space Station.
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The space shuttle Atlantis took off on a mission to resume construction of the International Space Station for the first time since the Columbia disaster.
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Astronauts on the shuttle Atlantis   packed up on Tuesday as they prepared to return from their   11-day mission to expand the International Space Station.
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The crew of the U.S.  space shuttle Atlantis returned to Florida on Saturday to  prepare for a new launch attempt on NASA's first International  Space Station assembly mission in nearly four years.
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HAMPTON -- When the space shuttle Atlantis re-enters Earth's atmosphere at somewhere around Mach 20 today, a small piece of a protective thermal blanket will be held together with surgical staples and metal pins.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida  - NASA cleared space   shuttle Atlantis to return to Earth on Thursday, confident that   unidentified objects spotted floating near the spaceship did   not result from damage to its heat shield or other critical   equipment.
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NASA was optimistic that the shuttle Atlantis will finally lift off Wednesday on a mission to resume construction of the International Space Station (ISS) after three scrubbed attempts last week.
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Astronauts on shuttle Atlantis   conducted a final inspection of their spacecraft's heat shield   on Monday as they began early preparations for their return to   Earth.
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Urgent: NASA decides to return Atlantis to launch pad    WASHINGTON, Aug.
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Construction at the International Space Station will resume - after a four-year hiatus - with arrival of Atlantis.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 2 -- Four days after evacuating the Kennedy Space Center as Tropical Storm Ernesto approached, the six crew members of the space shuttle Atlantis flew back to Florida on Saturday to prepare for a launch Wednesday.
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The twice-delayed flight of the space shuttle Atlantis, carrying a major addition to the International Space Station, is set for liftoff Thursday.
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The shuttle Atlantis prepared to perform a giant backflip that will let NASA take another close look at its thermal shield.
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Weather forecasts were not encouraging, but space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday in an afternoon landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida  - Shuttle Atlantis crew members prepared on Tuesday for their planned touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida after delivering Europe's first permanent orbital laboratory to the International Space Station.
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US astronauts were back on board the shuttle Atlantis preparing to undock Tuesday for the long flight back to Earth, after wrapping up their mission at the International Space Station, NASA said.