Endeavour space shuttle lands after its final flight

Space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts have returned to Earth, completing the second-last mission in Nasa's 30-year program with a safe night-time landing.

Endeavour touched down on the runway a final time under the cover of darkness just as Atlantis, the last shuttle bound for space, arrived at the launch pad for the grand finale in five weeks.

Commander Mark Kelly – whose wife, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, remains in rehabilitation after being shot – brought Endeavour to a stop before hundreds of onlookers that included the four Atlantis astronauts who will take off in July.

"122 million miles flown during 25 challenging spaceflights," mission control told Kelly and his crewmates, who wrapped up US construction at the International Space Station. "Your landing ends a vibrant legacy for this amazing vehicle that will long be remembered. Welcome home, Endeavour."

Kelly replied: "It's sad to see her land for the last time but she really has a great legacy."

He thanked all those who worked on Endeavour over the years.

A considerably bigger crowd gathered a few hours earlier to see Atlantis become the last ever shuttle to make its way to the launchpad. Thousands of Kennedy Space Centre workers and their families lined the route from the mammoth Vehicle Assembly Building a little after sunset.

"The show pretty much tells itself," Atlantis's commander, Christopher Ferguson, said as he waved toward his ship. "We're going to look upon this final mission as a celebration of all that the space shuttle has accomplished over its 30-year lifespan."

The Endeavour astronauts – all experienced crew – added finishing touches to the space station including a $2bn cosmic ray detector, an extension beam and a platform full of spare parts, enough to keep the station operating in the decade ahead.

Their flight lasted 16 days and completed Nasa's role in the space station construction effort that began 12 years ago.

After 25 flights Endeavour has travelled 122.8mn miles, carried 170 crew members, spent 299 days in space and made 4,672 orbits of Earth.

Kelly's wife was shot in the head during a massacre in January but made a remarkable recovery and was able to watch the launch on 16 May. She did not travel to Florida for the landing because of the inconvenient hour, her husband said. They will reunite in Houston on Thursday.