Article Posted on : - Sep 10, 2009

Space Shuttle Discovery. A file photo

CAPE CANAVERAL (AP/PTI): Shuttle Discovery's astronauts aimed for a Thursday evening landing to wrap up their successful space station delivery mission, but late summer storms threatened to keep them up an extra day or two.

Mission Control said yesterday that "the weather will pose a challenge" for bringing Discovery home. The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms. Conditions were expected to worsen Friday and remain poor Saturday.

"The weather in Florida this time of year is always a little iffy," Discovery's commander, Rick Sturckow, said from orbit. "If things aren't good, the worst that can come out of it is that we have another day in space, which is a great deal."

In orbit since Aug 29, Discovery has enough supplies to last until Sunday. If the shuttle cannot return to Florida on Thursday, NASA will consider landing it in California, but not until Friday at the earliest.

Astronaut Timothy Kopra is headed home after nearly two months at the international space station. He said the flight wasn't too long by any stretch. He should have spent an extra month at the outpost, but his ride up ended up being delayed because of shuttle problems.

Buzz Lightyear, by comparison, spent 15 months aboard the space station.