By Irene Klotz
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Space shuttle Endeavour undocked fromthe International Space Station on Monday and headed home afterdelivering part of Japan's ambitious space laboratory.
A set of springs pushed the shuttle from its station port,then pilot Greg Johnson slowly backed Endeavour away as the twospacecraft flew 215 miles (347 km) above the Indian Ocean offthe Australian coast.
"Endeavour departing," station crewmember Garrett Reismansaid as, following naval tradition, a station bell rang out tomark the event.
"Copy, fair winds and following seas to you guys," shuttlecommander Dominic Gorie radioed back.
Undocking was delayed about half an hour due to problemslatching a station solar power panel in place to prevent itsmovement as the two ships separated.
NASA officials blamed the balky latch on a worn bearing,but said it was not thought to be a serious problem.
Johnson circled the shuttle around the station for a photoinspection of the $100 billion (50 billion pounds) outpost,then turned Endeavour on a path toward home.
The shuttle blasted off from Kennedy Space Centre inFlorida on March 11 and was scheduled to land there at 7:05p.m. EDT (11:05 p.m. British time) on Wednesday.
Endeavour's departure ended a 12-day station stay in whichthe shuttle crew installed the first piece of Japan's elaborateKibo laboratory complex.
The main part of the lab, a 37-foot (11-metre)-long, tourbus-sized module, is due to launch aboard shuttle Discovery onMay 25.
DEXTRE
The shuttle crew also completed its other primary task --delivery and assembly of the Canadian robot Dextre, which willbe used for maintenance work on the station exterior.
Before undocking, Endeavour astronauts and the station crewsaid goodbye with hugs and handshakes and closed the hatchesbetween the spacecraft.
"We had a great time here," Gorie told the station crew."It's a strange feeling to want to see your families but notwant to leave a wonderful place."
Reisman, who flew up on Endeavour, replaced returningFrench astronaut Leopold Eyharts and will return withDiscovery's crew in June.
"It's hard for me to believe that it's already finished,"said Eyharts, who arrived last month to oversee setup ofEurope's new Columbus laboratory.
NASA managers said Endeavour's mission, which included fivespacewalks, had gone remarkably well and marked a majormilestone in the life of the space station, now about 70percent complete.
With the arrival of the Japanese Kibo segment, all 15countries involved in the project were now represented on thestation, said space station program manager Mike Suffredini.
"We truly have globalized the ISS (space station) at thispoint," he said.
"It is without a doubt the largest, most technologicallychallenging international project ever undertaken by humankind, and we as a people ought to be proud of where we are."
With plans to fly 10 more construction and re-supplyflights to the station, NASA is trying to finish the orbitaloutpost by 2010 when the aging shuttle fleet is to be retired.
A final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope isalso planned for later this year.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Franks, editing by VickiAllen)
