Space shuttle Endeavour returns home

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 31 (UPI) -- The space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth Friday after a successful 16-day mission and five spacewalks, officials at Florida's Kennedy Space Center said.

Endeavour touched down at Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 10:48 a.m. EDT with

Commander Mark Polansky expected to make a statement after a walk around the shuttle, NASA officials said.

The shuttle's astronauts are to return to Houston's Ellington Field Saturday for a debriefing on 127th space shuttle mission and the 23rd flight for Endeavour.

During their five spacewalks, the astronauts installed the final pieces of a Japanese laboratory and replaced batteries on a solar wing of the International Space Station.