Houston: Astronauts on space shuttle Endeavour said they and their ship were ready to come home as they neared the end of a mission that brought the first Japanese module to the International Space Station.

Endeavour, which launched on March 11, was scheduled to land today at 7:05 pm EDT (0425 IST) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The seven crewmembers spent the day stowing gear and testing flight systems in preparation for their fiery descent to Earth.

"The orbiter has performed marvelously this whole flight and we don't have any concerns about it at all," shuttle commander Dominic Gorie said in a press interview from space yesterday.

NASA officials said the shuttle windshield had a small nick in it, possibly caused by space debris, but posed no threat to shuttle safety.

The shuttle delivered the first segment of Japan's three-piece Kibo laboratory and a Canadian-built maintenance robot named Dextre.

The main segment of Kibo, which will be the station's largest lab when completed early next year, is scheduled for transport to the outpost on a shuttle flight in May.

Kibo is Japanese for hope. Kibo's arrival marked the first time that all 15 partner nations in the 100 billion dollar project have had a facility on the the space station, the first segment of which was launched into orbit in November 1998.

Source : UNI