U.S. shuttle Discovery leaves space station for home

　　The U.S. space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station on Wednesday, beginning its trip back to Earth, NASA TV reported.

　　Before undocking, astronauts embraced and said good-bye to each other, then sealed the hatches between Discovery and the space station.

　　"You made the space station much better than it was before," the space station's skipper, Mike Fincke, told the shuttle astronauts. "You gave us more power, symmetry -- which is not to be underrated -- and you gave us a new crew member."

　　The space station's new crew member is Koichi Wakata, the first Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's resident station crew member. He replaced NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus as part of the station's Expedition 18 crew.

　　During Discovery's eight-day stay with the space station, astronauts conducted three spacewalks to install the S6 truss segment to the starboard, or right side of the station, and deploy its fourth and final set of solar array wings.

　　Altogether, the station's arrays can generate as much as 120 kilowatts of usable electricity -- enough to provide about 422,800-square-foot (260 square meters) homes with power. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in May.

　　The truss is a high-tech girder structure made up of 11 segments. It provides the backbone for the station, supporting the U.S. solar arrays, radiators and other equipment. After S6 installation, the truss was 335 feet (102 meters) long.

　　The flight also replaced a failed unit for a system that converts urine to potable water.

　　Discovery is bringing back five months' worth of experiments from the space station. It is also returning four to five liters of recycled water made from the astronauts' urine and sweat. NASA wants to make sure the water is safe before space station astronauts start drinking it there.

　　Discovery, with seven astronauts aboard, was launched into space on March 15. It is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 28.

　　美联社消息，“发现”号航天飞机北京时间25日下午告别国际空间站，开始了返回地球的旅程。这次“发现”号航天飞机与国际空间站的宇航员共度8天美好时光，期间还有美国总统奥巴马打电话慰问，意义不同寻常。

　　“发现”号是在3月15日发射升空的，17日与空间站对接。这次“发现号”的主要任务是向国际空间站运送最后一组太阳能电板以及水循环系统的一些部件。目前太阳能电板安装完成。空间站拥有了更大的能源储备。

　　“发现”号返回地球时携带了宇航员提供的“循环再生水”。美国太空总署希望能够通过研究证实“循环水”对宇航员确实是无害的。

　　美国总统奥巴马此前与国际空间站上10名宇航员视频“连线”，彼此寒暄，互相发问，非常热闹。奥巴马问，“你们还在喝"果珍"吗？”宇航员纷纷含笑点头。奥巴马对太空科技非常着迷，又继续询问宇航员的日常生活。

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