SPACE shuttle Atlantis brought its crew of seven astronauts safely back to Earth last night after thunderstorms in Florida forced a detour to California, ending a 13-day mission that repaired and enhanced the Hubble Space Telescope.

“Now and only now can we declare this mission a total success -– the astronauts are safely on the ground,” NASA sciences chief Ed Weiler told a Florida press conference.

Atlantis’s crew had waited since Friday for the go-ahead to land as Mission Control hoped to avoid the time and expense – about $1.8m – of diverting to California’s Edwards Air Force Base.

The Florida weather refused to yield and Mission Control finally directed shuttle commander Scott Altman to head to California. The shuttle’s twin sonic booms rocked the Mojave Desert as it swooped out of a dazzling morning sky.

Out on the runway after landing, Altman reflected on how long it had taken to get their mission under way – and then to end it.

“When we got down to Florida, I looked at everybody and said, ‘At last’,” Altman said. “I didn’t realise it was going to be so hard to get back to the Earth in the end. So again I guess I say the same thing, at last we’re back on the ground.”