Endeavour crew is cleared for reentry

Their work accomplished, space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts got the green light to return to Earth today but were warned “pretty iffy” weather at the main landing site in Cape Canaveral could send them across the country or keep them up an extra day.

Mission Control informed the crew that Endeavour had been cleared for reentry following analysis of data beamed down from a final thermal survey. The shuttle was found to be free of any serious defects caused by space junk that could jeopardize the descent. The astronauts noticed a small strip of material floating away as they checked out their flight systems, but Mission Control told them not to worry. It was merely a 3-inch label.

A cold front expected to bring stiff winds and possibly thunderstorms to Florida lead NASA to prepare for a landing at its backup site at Edwards Air Force Base in California.