The five astronauts and two cosmonauts landed safely after their 12-day mission, highlighted by a six-hour space walk to install cables and a global positioning system to help the space station position itself with respect to the North Pole.

Atlantis landed at 3:56 a.m. (0756 GMT) under starry skies, after having completed its mission, "opening the doors to a new home in the International Space Station," one NASA official said.

As part of their mission crew members moved more than two tonnes of material and supplies into the station to prepare it for full-time inhabitants.

The 264 cubic-meter (9,323 cubic foot) space station is comprised of three "rooms": the Unity, a US-made module primarily used as a docking cavern for shuttles; the Zaria which will serve as a storage closet; and the Russian Progress vessel which will be the primary living space for US national William Shepherd and Russian nationals Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikaliev when they arrive in November.

The fourth piece of the station will serve as a space laboratory for the 21st century when it arrives via space shuttle in October.

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