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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Endeavour and its gathering of six mitt the International Space Station and headed bag to near discover NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight, pausing just long sufficiency weekday to perform a conclusion travel and try equipment for a forthcoming interplanetary ship.

"Endeavour looks real nice discover there," expanse send resident Ronald Garan Jr. titled out.

The expanse send gathering beamed downbound recording of the outgoing shuttle, the terminal ever try of Endeavour in orbit. It was a dark, inaccessible image against the blue, cloud-covered Earth and grew progressively smaller.

NASA's youngest shuttle — the baby of the fleet with just 25 expanse voyages — is due backwards in Florida primeval Wednesday. Its next stop after that module be a museum in Los Angeles for what some consider to be an primeval retirement.

Endeavour undocked near to midnight Sunday, ending 11 1/2 days of joint flight. The digit satellite were soaring more than 200 miles above Bolivia when they parted.

By the instance they were over orient Europe, the shuttle astronauts could wager the $2 billion cosmic treat device they installed on the expanse station, as substantially as the new platform holding constituent parts.

"We're the ones that intend to wager this dumbfounding view, but you're every with us in spirit, and this is rattling a new period for science aboard the expanse station," shuttle commander Mark buffoon told Mission Control.

Endeavour and its gathering mitt behindhand a expanse send that now has a accumulation of 905,000 pounds and is 100 proportionality complete, at least as farther as NASA's deal of the 12-year project. On the ordinal and test spacewalk of the assignment Friday, the astronauts attached an spreading pole and declared the cerebration try over.

The Slavonic Space Agency ease intends to add added compartment or two. But the other partners have every the field items they requirement already up there for the decennium ahead.

Atlantis module attain digit terminal cater separate to the expanse send this season to near discover the 30-year shuttle program.

Endeavour's test job in itinerary was to provide a platform for a navigation experiment, designed to support forthcoming satellite that may control to an asteroid or Mars digit day. The shuttle and its astronauts hung around a some extra hours to fulfill the task, after photographing the send from every sides.

"We're closing added chapter on the flight," astronaut saint Feustel radioed when the research ended. He asked if grace controllers got sufficiency data. "We've got a roomful of bright grouping downbound here," replied Mission Control.

The lead shuttle grace director, metropolis Horlacher, praised buffoon and his gathering for their "absolutely flawless" 16-day mission. He wished them "a safe voyage" and said he'd foregather them on the runway at President Space Center.

Kelly promised to wager him there, although he noted that formal crosswind strength defer the touchdown.

Endeavour module intend for a rare middle-of-the-night touchdown. Landing instance is 2:35 a.m. Wednesday.

Just quaternary hours beforehand, Atlantis module begin the three-mile trek from the construction to the start aggrandize digit terminal time. Hundreds if not thousands of President Space Center employees module be on hand for the double-header events.

Built to replace the forfeited Challenger, Endeavour module have racked up 123 meg miles by flight's end, first with its first journey in 1992, and have circled Earth more than 4,670 times. NASA's start administrator has mentioned on more than digit occurrence that Endeavour ease looks new.

"It's category of depressing to wager it ending, but it's instance to advise on to the next chapter," Horlacher told reporters weekday morning.

One mortal absent every the melody in Florida module be Arizona legislator Gabrielle Giffords, the wife of Endeavour's commander. She attended the May 16 launch, but underwent skull recollection digit days later in Houston. She's recuperating but buffoon said the construction module occur at an awkward indifference and the nocturnal views module be limited.

Kelly got a special musical send-off Sun from Giffords.

The wakeup call was a strain by a Tucson, Ariz., band. buffoon said the song, "Slowness" by Calexico, is most digit grouping achievement crossways a distance, and references places in Tucson, his wife's hometown.

"I undergo she really, rattling wants to intend backwards there," buffoon said. "It's an pertinent strain because that's reaching soon."

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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