He may be a bit wobbly for a bit, but Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is feeling fine after returning to Earth for the first time in more than four months to complete his country's first long-duration spaceflight.

"I feel great," Wakata told reporters after landing in Florida aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour. "When the hatch opened, I could smell the grass and the ground and I'm glad to be back home."

Wakata and six other astronauts landed at 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT) Friday when Endeavour touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle astronauts wrapped up a long, 16-day mission to the International Space Station, but Wakata returned home after living in weightlessness for 138 days.

A set of high-tech Japanese underwear has passed the ultimate smell test in space.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata put the new underwear, which is designed to keep foul odors down in space, and other garb to an extra-long endurance test during his 4 1/2-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

"I wore it for about a month and my station crewmembers never complained for that month, so I think the experiment went fine," Wakata told the Associated Press Thursday in a televised interview.

Wakata is returning to Earth on NASA's space shuttle Endeavour, which is due to land Friday after an 11-day stay at the space station. Before leaving the station, Wakata told Japanese dignitaries, students and reporters that he spent two months in all wearing the experimental space clothing designed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Before undocking from the International Space Station Tuesday, the crew aboard the shuttle Endeavour transferred nearly 1,200 pounds of water to the orbiting outpost. But one crewmember kept a small, but very special, set of water samples for the ride home.

Mission specialist Julie Payette, who together with space station flight engineer Bob Thirsk set a record for the first time two Canadians have been in space at the same time, launched with the water to symbolize the partnership that humans share with planet Earth. Endeavour is due to land in Florida Friday at 10:48 am. EDT (1448 GMT).

NASA will likely have to continue flying its aging space shuttle fleet beyond its planned 2010 retirement date in order to complete construction of the International Space Station, a presidential panel said Tuesday.

Former astronaut Sally Ride, a member of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, said that it was unlikely NASA could meet the current deadline of retiring the space shuttle by next year, as is currently planned. The first operational flights of the agency's replacement for the shuttle, the Orion spacecraft, may also be delayed a year or so beyond its 2015 target, she added.

NASA's next space shuttle crew will answer questions submitted by YouTube users in both English and Spanish during the upcoming mission to the International Space Station. The crew is targeted to launch on the STS-128 mission in late August,

Questions may be submitted starting today at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ReelNASA

Several questions will be selected to be answered live from orbit by the crew during a special event that will be broadcast on NASA Television. STS-128 astronaut Jose Hernandez, one crew member who will answer questions, is providing insights on his training in both English and Spanish via Twitter. To follow him, visit:

I have been hearing, on 145.825, what sounds like the tail end of a packet pass while setting up for a ISS pass. I suspect this is probably Castor and Pollux but have been unable to find ephemeris data to calculate their passes. Does anyone know where or when TLE data will be posted?
Logan, KZ6O