Click to play videoKennedy Space Centre: Space Shuttle Atlantis is expected to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida later on Thursday. The NASA control room is keeping a close eye on chances of thunderstorms in the area.
Meanwhile, the crew on Atlantis juggled construction on the international space station and surprises along the way.
"We take space flight for granted. It still is pretty darn dangerous. We're living in an environment that's not really friendly for humans," said mission specialist Sunita Williams
The first problem- a tear in the orbiter's thermal blanket, something NASA is extremely sensitive to after the Columbia accident. Astronauts completed a repair in the third space walk.
But then, another problem on the space station: a computer crash. The computers control lighting, oxygen and orientation to the sun.
That led NASA and Russia to contemplate the extreme measure of abandoning the space station. But the station's Russian commander rigged a jumper cable to work around a faulty switch.
It's been an eye-opening experience for the astronaut who will now remain on the ISS.
"It kind of reminds me of one of my first swimming lesson, when they kind of tossed me in and told me to survive," said the astronaut joining ISS crew Clay Anderson.
Catching a ride home with Atlantis after six months in space, Sunita Williams became a new record holder for the longest single spaceflight for a woman.
"When you stay somewhere for six months it becomes your home and it's hard to leave,” said Williams.
The astronauts could be up there another day, if not longer as thunderstorms are forecast this afternoon, making it unfavorable for a landing.
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