Discovery lands safely in Florida

The fiery re-entry of Discovery and its 6-member crew has brought an end to the NASA's second shuttle mission.

The US space shuttle Discovery landed safely at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Monday, ending a 13-day mission that may signal NASA's full recovery from the 2003 Columbia disaster.

Discovery and its six-member crew made a fiery re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere before gliding to a smooth landing at 9.14 am.

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The landing brought a successful end to the US space agency's second shuttle mission since Columbia, Discovery's sister ship, broke apart over Texas just 16 minutes from landing on February 1, 2003.