After accomplishing its 14-day construction mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the 100-ton space shuttle Endeavor landed smoothly at the Kennedy Space Center at 10:20 p. m. EST on Sunday.

Upon the touchdown of the space shuttle at Runway 15, commander George Zamka radioed to mission control: “Houston, Endeavour, wheels stopped;” to which astronaut Rick Sturckow responded from Houston: “Welcome home. Congratulations to you and the crew on an outstanding mission, installing the Tranquility node and opening up the cupola’s windows to the world.”

The Endeavor mission – the 130th mission of the space shuttle fleet – comprised of the delivery as well as the installation of Tranquility, which is the space station’s new life support module that will essentially be a second living quarters for the resident station crew.

Other than Tranquility, the Endeavor crew – Commander Colonel Zamka; flight engineer Colonel Virts; Stephen Robinson; Kathryn Hire; and spacewalkers, Nicholas Patrick and Lt. Col. Robert Behnken – accomplished the task of installing a seven-window cupola which robot arm operators will use for providing picturesque views of the Earth and space.

The attachment of the Tranquility connecting hub and the cupola mark nearly 98 percent completion of the $100 billion ISS project – which is a joint project of 16 nations, and has been under construction 220 miles above Earth since 1998.