The shuttle's landing site was switched to Edwards Air Force Base due to bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Pilot Eric Boe was at the controls along with commander Chris Ferguson when Endeavour touched down in the high desert at 4:25 p.m. EST, NASA said in a written statement. The ground crew quickly surrounded the spacecraft to begin the long shutdown procedure.

Endeavour docked at the space station on Nov. 16 with a cargo of gear that will enable the orbiting station to double its crew size to six.

The shuttle left Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus at the station and brought mission specialist Greg Chamitoff home from the station.