Atlantis Heads Home After Smooth Mission

As its mission to the International Space Station was approaching its end, the crew of Atlantis to think beyond what has been a steady and successful flight.

Underwater astronauts managed to enjoy themselves.

"The main reason is that we all have so much fun is that everything has gone pretty smooth," says Garrett Reis-man, an Atlantis mission specialist.

He credited the development of NASA's Legion engineers and technicians to provide virtually error-free equipment and training.

"I probably can not discover some of the best fun we've had," quipped Ken Ham, the shuttle commander. "It's mainly to spend time with this group of people. All 12 of us. We have tied up in this room. We have worked very hard together, and we've had a lot of fun laughing together."

The six-member crew of Atlantis was shot nine days ago, and ended the six space station residents a week ago. It freed up from the station Sunday after completing all the mission tasks, including installation of a Russian module, and six great new batteries at the station.

With only two shuttle flights again, the station almost finished.

Piers Sellers, who last flew to the station in 2006, said the station was about a third the size of the time.

"It was very different," he said. "The place is a palace. It's great. We look at the station in almost its final form and it is fantastic. "

It is likely that this will be the last flight of Atlantis, with only the Discovery and Endeavour returned to make their last trips into orbit before the shuttle program's completion later this year or early next.

"It is certainly the beginning of the end for the shuttle program, 'said Michael Good, one of Atlantis' space walk astronauts.

"Unfortunately, this is necessary for us to move on. Shuttle is an amazing car with an incredible capacity. But it is limited to low Earth orbit. As we forecast, we will have to go in a new car."

During his limited free time during your stay, joined the shuttle crew station crew staring out of the loop plant dome, a large, seven paned windows that look back on Earth.

They have had many highlights, see the home cities, oceans and islands. But there has been a huge decline, also explained Soichi Noguchi, an astronaut mission.

"The oil spill, we look over each day," he said. "It's kind of sad to see. These days the stain has spread south. We hope for a speedy recovery. "