Space Shuttle Endeavour Prepares to Land (STS-108) Poster

The Space Shuttle Endeavour’s main landing gear is just about to touch down on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), with a mission elapsed time of 11 days, 19 hours, 35 minutes. Main gear touchdown occurred at 12:55:10 p.m. (EST), nose gear touchdown at 12:55:23 p.m., wheel stop at 12:56:13 p.m. The landing, the 57th at KSC in the history of the program completed the STS-108 mission known as Utilization Flight 1, which was the 12th mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Onboard at landing were STS-108 astronauts Dominic L. Gorie, mission commander; Mark E. Kelly, pilot; and Linda M. Godwin and Daniel M. Tani, both mission specialists; along with the returning Expedition Three crewmembers—astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, Jr., commander; Vladimir N. Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin, both flight engineers representing Rosaviakosmos.