Endeavour back home at Fla. space center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The space shuttle Endeavour was back home in Florida Friday after making two overnight stops on its way across the country, the U.S. space agency said.

The shuttle, piggy-backed on its Boeing 747 carrier, touched down at 2:44 EST Friday at the Kennedy Space Center on the three-mile runway used by shuttles when they return from space.

After a Wednesday night stop at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base at Fort Worth, Texas, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ferry flight team said it decided on a second stopover before returning to the Kennedy spaceport.

The modified 747 aircraft took off from Fort Worth at 12:08 p.m. EST Thursday, landing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

NASA said the non-stop cross-country flight plan was changed because of an advancing cold front moving toward the space center, preceded by high winds and storms. That would not allow a smooth flight or provide good landing conditions.