Space shuttle Atlantis and its six astronauts landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday, after completing a landmark construction mission crucial for the International Space Station - or ISS.
NASA television showed the landing 48 minutes before sunrise.
Brett Jett, the commander of Atlantis, said it was a beautiful day in Florida and great way to end the mission.
 "It was a pretty tough few days for us, a lot of hard work, a great team effort to get the station assembly restarted a good note."
Atlantis' homecoming had been planned for Wednesday, but was delayed a day so the crew could conduct an unprecedented third inspection of their ship's heat shield.
The extra inspection was prompted by video footage showing a mysterious dark object flying near the shuttle early on Tuesday.
Atlantis and her 6-member crew began its 12-day mission to the ISS on September 9. The mission, designated STS-115, delivered and installed a new truss segment and a set of solar arrays to the international outpost - the first major addition since late 2002.
The mission was the first of 15 tightly scheduled flights needed to finish constructing the half-built space lab by 2010.
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Director: Liu Chi