Discovery back home
Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts prepares to land at Edwards Air Force Base on Sep. 11, 2009 after bad weather prevented it from returning to the
![Watching the shuttle](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f2ba028/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x401+0+0/resize/600x401!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffe%2F50%2F6efa1f849259a3c93b340bb23332%2Fla-me-shuttle04-kpu812nc.jpg)
Military personnel and their families watch the space shuttle descend from the sky. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Discovery comes in for landing at Edwards Air Force Base. (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times)
With its chute trailing behind it, Discovery touches down in the California desert. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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![Shuttle guards](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0b2e805/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x339+0+0/resize/600x339!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F28%2F8b%2Ff5a9dfc0a2e142e0904aac432d59%2Fla-me-shuttle05-kpu804nc.jpg)
Air Force personnel on the periphery of the runway during post-mission activity. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)