Shuttle Lands in California After Storms Force Detour

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., May 24 -- The space shuttle Atlantis brought its crew of seven astronauts safely back to Earth on Sunday, ending a 13-day mission to repair and enhance the Hubble Space Telescope.

Thunderstorms in Florida forced shuttle commander Scott Altman to land in California, an expensive detour that mission control had hoped to avoid. Transferring the shuttle from Edwards Air Force Base to Cape Canaveral will cost about $1.8 million.

Astronauts fixed broken instruments and gave the 19-year-old Hubble new science instruments, pointing devices and batteries. The work will add years to the telescope's life.

Initial checkouts of the repaired Hubble were going well, NASA sciences chief Ed Weiler said.