UNITED STATES: Doi has his feet on the ground, again

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida--NASA's space shuttle Endeavour landed here safely at 8:39 p.m. Wednesday (9:39 a.m. Thursday Japan time) after 16 days aloft.

Crew member Takao Doi, 53, pronounced himself "fine" at the end of the mission.

Doi and his six colleagues exited the shuttle about an hour after Endeavour's second attempt to land. He smiled to NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency officials and reporters.

Commenting on his successful installation of Japan's Kibo experiment module component to the International Space Station during the mission, Doi noted that "long-standing efforts finally took shape."(IHT/Asahi: March 28,2008)