Second to last space shuttle lands; final on launch pad

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's 30-year shuttle program inched closer to the end Wednesday, wrapping up its next-to-last mission and moving Atlantis to the launch pad for next month's final flight.

Endeavour and its six astronauts returned to Earth after more than two weeks in space, gliding down the runway one last time during a middle-of-the-night landing. A few miles away, Atlantis reached the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center for the grand finale in five weeks.

Endeavour commander Mark Kelly — whose wife, wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, remained behind at her rehab center in Houston — brought Endeavour to a stop before hundreds of onlookers that included the four Atlantis astronauts.

"It's sad to see her land for the last time," Kelly said, "but she really has a great legacy."

Endeavour, the youngest of the shuttles with 123 million miles over 25 flights, is now bound for a museum in California.

A few hours earlier, thousands of employees and their families lined the route Tuesday night as Atlantis slowly crept toward the launch pad, bathed in bright lights.

"We're going to look upon this final mission as a celebration of all that the space shuttle has accomplished over its 30-year life span," Atlantis' commander, Christopher Ferguson, said as he waved toward his ship, which will make the 135th and last shuttle flight.