Space shuttle to return Tuesday

The shuttle has spent the past two weeks stockpiling the space station The space shuttle Discovery has had to pass on a return to Earth on Monday because of poor weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center. The low cloud and light rain around the Florida spaceport broke the agency's landing rules for the orbiter. Mission Control says several opportunities exist on Tuesday for Discovery to make its descent. The orbiter has spent two weeks at the space station, stockpiling it with supplies, experiments and spare parts. "We know how hard you guys worked it today and we appreciate everything," Discovery commander Alan Poindexter radioed controllers. "We'll be hopeful of better weather tomorrow." There are five possible landing times on Tuesday - three at Kennedy and two at the back-up landing strip at the Edwards Air Force Base in California. The earliest return is to Florida with a touchdown scheduled at 0733 local time (1133 GMT). Tuesday's weather conditions at Kennedy are forecast to be better, although there is still likely to be some showers in the area. Nasa would prefer Discovery to come down at Kennedy because of the cost of transporting the shuttle across the US after a California landing. The orbiter left behind nearly eight tonnes of cargo and equipment on the International Space Station (ISS), including a new tank full of ammonia coolant. After Discovery's return, there are three further shuttle missions planned before the fleet is retired later this year. President Barack Obama visited Kennedy last week to reassure space workers that his planned changes to US space policy could generate thousands of jobs in the area to offset those that will be lost post-shuttle. The White House wants to close down the Moon-bound Constellation programme and its associated rockets and crew ship. Constellation activities would have superseded shuttle work at Kennedy. Instead, Mr Obama now wants the commercial sector to lift astronauts to the ISS, while Nasa concentrates on the task of taking humans to challenging new destinations, starting with a visit to an asteroid from 2025.