US space shuttle's landing delayed until tomorrow

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 21 (Reuters) Bad weather forced NASA today to delay bringing space shuttle Atlantis back to Earth at least until tomorrow, the US space agency said.

Touchdown at one of the Kennedy Space Center's seaside runways in central Florida had been scheduled for two opportunities today afternoon, but thick cloud cover and rain showers prompted NASA managers to call off any landing attempts.

Flight directors decided not to staff the shuttle's backup landing site in California today, but if weather continues to prohibit a touchdown in Florida, both sites will be available for tomorrow's landing attempts.

The shuttle has enough fuel and supplies to stay in space until Sunday.

The shuttle cannot land in rain because it has the potential to damage the thousands of ceramic tiles that protect the spaceships's belly from the fiery heat of re-entry.

Atlantis spent most of its nearly two-week-long mission at the International Space Station, where the crew installed a 17-tonne metal truss that included solar power panels to generate additional electricity for the half-finished 100 billion dollars complex.

REUTERS DS RAI2339