Landing the Space Shuttle — An Incredible Flying Machine and the Thrill of a Lifetime

This was my first landing at the controls of Atlantis, and it was the culmination of a 10-day mission to the Russian Mir to deliver supplies and a fresh crew for the space station. In just about the same time it takes us to fly a 5-mile final to touchdown in most of our homebuilt aircraft, I’d be descending from Mach 1 and 50,000 feet to a touchdown at 195 knots!