Science / Atlantis Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands Safely in Calif. Stormy Florida weather prompted NASA to go to Plan B By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff Posted May 24, 2009 10:46 AM CDT Copied Low clouds and a light rain fall over the Vehicle Assembly Building May 22, 2009 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA moved the landing to sunny California. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) With weather conditions in Florida remaining too soggy for a safe shuttle landing, Atlantis instead touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California this morning. This was the 53rd west-coast landing for a space shuttle, a $2 million decision made easy by the balmy conditions in the Mojave Desert. Atlantis will make it back to Kennedy Space Center on the back of a modified 747. (More Atlantis Space Shuttle stories.) Report an error