Aircraft 'piggyback' spacecraft

Atlantis space shuttle yesterday began its journey back to the base in Florida. Bad weather did not allow it to land here after completing its mission in orbit and had to resort to a "piggyback" transport plane from California.

Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California state on May 24. The ship must land here because bad weather cannot land at the home base, the Florida Space Center in Florida. Earlier the ship was launched into orbit on May 11 with seven astronauts, performing a 11-day Hubble Space Telescope mission to repair and upgrade.Photo: Getty Images.

After landing safely, ground crews used specialized vehicles to pull the Atlantis ship from Edwards airbase's main runway to the assembly site. The ship will be mounted on the back of a Boeing 747 dedicated transport aircraft to the base in Florida. This makes the US Space Agency spend a few million dollars more than the original plan.Photo: NASA.

Giant trusses help fix space shuttle Atlantis on the back of Boeing 747 transport aircraft. Photo: NASA.

The installation was completed and the transport aircraft prepared to carry Atlantis to leave Edward's air base to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on June 1. Photo: AP.

Atlantis is fixed on the back of a Boeing 747 with a simple-looking rack system.Photo: Getty Images.

The Boeing 747 duo and the shuttle Atlantis started, preparing to take off from Edward, California air base.Photo: Getty Images.

The Boeing 747 is taking altitude with Atlantis on its back.Photo: AP.

The destination of this transport plane is the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Photo: Getty Images.