The U.S. space shuttle Discovery has begun its journey home after undocking from the orbital laboratory of the International Space Station at 5:32 a.m. EST (1032 GMT), NASA TV announced.
The spacecraft was flying 218 miles (about 349 km) above the South Pacific Ocean at the time of undocking.
Discovery delivered the new Harmony module to the station. During its 10-day stay at the station, which began on Oct. 25, its crew, along with the station's crew, conducted intense and unprecedented construction work.
They carried out four space walks, installed Harmony, the new connecting module, relocated a massive truss to its permanent location and successfully repaired a torn solar array on the new truss.
Discovery also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who replaced astronaut Clayton Anderson.
The shuttle is set to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. Its first landing opportunity is at 1:02 p.m. EST (1802 GMT), according to NASA's mission schedule.
<i>Source:Xinhua</i>
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