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 HOUSTON (AP) - Hours after undocking from the international space station Tuesday, Atlantis' seven astronauts finished a final inspection of the space shuttle to make sure its heat shield was ready to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
Atlantis' 13-day mission was scheduled to end with landing at 1:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday, although the weather at Kennedy Space Center looked iffy.
Continuing a tradition, space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin rang a bell and said "Atlantis departing" as the space shuttle pulled away.
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