The story

The space shuttle Endeavour came home a day early on Tuesday after NASA decided to cut short its mission in case Hurricane Dean shut down Johnson Space Center, which directs the shuttle's re-entry and landing.

The shuttle touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 12:32 p.m. ET, 13 days after its departure on a mission to help assemble parts of the international space station.

"Welcome back. You give new meaning to the term 'higher education,' " mission control told the seven-member crew, which includes former teacher Barbara Morgan. Read full article »

CNN's Kate Tobin contributed to this report.

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