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Tuesday August 21 (Flight day 14, Landing)

Endeavour landing at Kennedy Space Center.

The crew of Endeavour went right to work after waking up on Tuesday, completing the close-out of the Spacehab module, and getting into the deorbit preparations timeline. They closed payload bay doors, transitioned the vehicle computers to landing software mode and donned their reentry suits. At 14:30 UTC, the crew was given the "go" to begin fluid loading. This was done to assist with the crew's ability to adjust to gravity, and to prevent hypotension after landing. At 12:30 UTC, the Space Flight Meteorology Group reported to Entry Team Flight Director Steve Stich that the weather forecast was a "go". The weather at Kennedy Space Center showed only scattered showers moving away from the landing facility, and cross winds were not expected to be a problem. At 15:08 UTC, the crew was given a "go" for the deorbit burn, and the auxiliary power units were started at 15:20 UTC. The 4 minute engine burn was successfully completed at 15:28 UTC, slowing Endeavour by approximately 252 miles per hour, (405 km/h) and adjusting the orbiter's trajectory correctly for landing.

Radar acquisition of Endeavour through MILA happened at 16:19 UTC. At 16:20 UTC, the shuttle had passed the area of peak heating, with no issues reported on board. Main landing gear touchdown occurred at 16:32:16 UTC with nose gear touchdown at 16:32:29 UTC. The orbiter came to a complete stop at 16:33:20 UTC. Upon wheel stop, CAPCOM Christopher Ferguson told the crew, "Congratulations, you've given a new meaning to the term 'higher education.'"

Damaged tile in the belly of Endeavour during post-landing inspection.

Initial post-landing inspection of the orbiter showed very little additional damage to the thermal tiles affected by the foam strike during launch. Barbara Morgan did not exit the crew transport vehicle with the rest of the crew; she remained on board the vehicle to receive additional medical tests, and would return to the Astronaut Crew Quarters in that vehicle. The remaining six crew members briefly examined the orbiter, doing the traditional post-flight "walkaround", posed for photos, and then returned to the crew quarters in the AstroVan.

During the post-landing briefing, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin reported that the International Space Station was approximately 60% completed following STS-118. Griffin also stressed the importance of space exploration, and added that the damaged tile on the underside of the orbiter did very well during re-entry.

Associate Administrator for Spaceflight Operations William H. Gerstenmaier reported the damage was actually less than what the arc jet testing produced, a situation that NASA anticipated, and managers had earlier stressed that arc jets show "worst possible" damage. Launch and Entry Flight Director Mike Leinbach stressed how pleased he was with the mission, and with the condition of the vehicle following re-entry. He stated it was "one of the cleanest vehicles the managers have seen since the Return to Flight policies were implemented, if not the cleanest."

At the end of the briefing, Griffin commented to the media who focused on Barbara Morgan being the first "teacher in space", that Morgan was not technically a "teacher in space", nor was she an "Educator Astronaut". He stated she was accepted as a Mission Specialist, before the new class of Mission Specialist Educators were selected in 2004, and NASA considers her to be a mission specialist, who was once a teacher. However, NASA does refer to Morgan as a Mission Specialist Educator in a number of interviews, so the terms seem to be interchangeable to most, if not to Griffin.

During the post-landing crew press conference, Kelly was asked "Did the tile damage enter your mind at all during re-entry, and what did you think about it once you got a look during the walkaround?" Kelly's reply was, "I thought about it, but only because I knew I'd be asked about it. I didn't worry about it at all. I was underwhelmed by it."

“ You know, there's a great sense of pride to be able to be involved in a human endeavor that takes us all a little bit farther, when you look down and see our Earth... and you realize what we are trying to do as a human race, it's pretty profound. ” — Barbara Morgan