Endeavour to Land Friday in Florida

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts are expected to land back in Florida.

Photo: Endeavour to Land Friday in Florida

Endeavour is scheduled to touch down late Friday morning at Kennedy Space Center, winding up a successful 16-day flight to the international space station. NASA says the weather should cooperate, The Associated Press reports.

The shuttle is scheduled to land at 10:48 a.m. ET at Kennedy Space Center, NASA said. If the weather turns bad, the landing could be delayed till 12:22 p.m. The forecast is favorable, though there is a slight chance of rain.

The seven-member crew lifted off on July 15 after five previous launch attempts due to weather and technical issues on a mission to the international space station, CNN International reports.

The station, now about the size of a four-bedroom house, has been under construction for more than a decade.

Endeavour's crew delivered and installed fresh batteries, large spare parts and a "porch" for Japan's $1bn Kibo science laboratory. This addition to the onboard lab is designed to hold outdoor experiments.

Five spacewalks were undertaken during the course of the mission.

Crew members also shared some unexpected inconveniences, most notably a flooded toilet aboard the space station, BBC News reports.