The space shuttle Discovery made a rare night landing at the Kennedy Space Center early on Thursday. The night landing, the 11th in the Center's 94 shuttle missions, ended a 10-day mission to outfit the orbiting International Space Station. Although the spacecraft created a sonic boom that could be heard along much of Floridas' eastern seaboard, witnesses on the ground could not see the orbiter until it was directly over the runway lights. Scattered showers off the Florida coast had threatened to postpone the shuttle's return, but forecasters gave the green light when they decided no rain would fall within 48 kilometers of the space center.


发现号航天飞机周四早些时候在肯尼迪航天中心完成了一次少有的夜间降落。这次夜间降落是该中心94个航天飞机任务中的第11个，由此结束了为期10天的为正在太空运行的国际空间站配备供给的任务。 虽然航天飞机降落时发出了可以被弗罗里达东部大大部分海岸线听到的超音波爆声，但是陆地上的目击者直到航天飞机正好在跑道指示灯上方时才能看得见它。 弗罗里达海岸零星的阵雨曾差点威胁到航天飞机的返回，但是气象预报员在确定航天中心周围48公里范围内不会有雨后，为航天飞机的返回亮了绿灯。