KSC-08pd3979

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The shuttle carrier aircraft, or SCA, and its piggyback passenger space shuttle Endeavour stop on the parking apron of the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after landing. The SCA will be towed into the mate/demate device that will lift the shuttle and put it back on the ground. After making the three-day trip from California, touchdown at Kennedy was at 2:44 p.m. EST. The SCA is a modified Boeing 747 jetliner. Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California Nov. 30 to end mission STS-126. The return to Kennedy began Dec. 8 and took four days after stops across the country for fuel. The last stop was at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. Weather conditions en route and in Florida postponed the landing at Kennedy until Dec. 12. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett