The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour landed safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, ending its 16-day mission of constructing the International Space Station (ISS).

The space shuttle Endeavour touches down with its drag parachute deployed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida July 31, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

“Welcome home, congratulations on a superb mission from beginning to end,” said NASA’s Mission Control, as the shuttle rolled to a stop on the Florida runway.

“That’s what it’s all about,” said shuttle commander Mark Polansky, who shared the controls with pilot Doug Hurley for the landing. “We are happy to be home.”

Endeavour lifted off on July 15 from Kennedy after five delays, on a track to the ISS. Its 16-day mission featured five spacewalks and completed construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory.

The astronauts replaced six batteries for the ISS and performed a number of “get ahead” tasks, including tying down some cables and installing handrails and a portable foot restraint to aid future spacewalkers.

They also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing with their own spacewalk and coped with a flooded toilet and an overheated air-purifier.

One of the Endeavour astronauts, rookie Timothy Kopra, remained behind on the space station, taking over the flight engineer’s post previously held by Japan’s Koichi Wakata, who returned home aboard the shuttle after four and a half months in orbit.

Seven more shuttle flights are planned over the coming year to complete the construction of the 100-billion-dollar ISS, a project of 16 nations, in preparation for the U.S. shuttle fleet’s retirement next year after seven more missions.

The launch of the next shuttle, Discovery, to the ISS is scheduled for the end of next month.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet