¡¡LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station, heading for home early Saturday morning.

    

A camera on the space shuttle Discovery shows the International space station above the Earth in this view from television Saturday, Aug. 6, 2005.  (Xinhua/AFP photo)

The 2-hour undocking procedure finished at 3:24 am EDT (0:24 am PDT) above the south Pacific Ocean after the hatches closed. Then the Shuttle flied around the Station at a distance of about 120 meters, allowing the shuttle crew to photograph the orbiting outpost.

    After undocking, Discovery and its seven-member crew will continue to orbit the Earth until early Monday, when they are scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to NASA's mission timetable.

    Before the hatches' final closing, nine astronauts from Discovery and the Space Station embraced each other at a farewell ceremony. Eileen Collins, commander of the shuttle crew, thanked the astronauts in the Station for being "such great hosts."

    "We thank them for being part of such a successful mission," she said. "These are memories we'll have forever."

    On Friday, seven astronauts and their hosts on the space station undocked the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the Station's Unity Node and reberthed it in the shuttle's cargo bay.

    Discovery Commander Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly and astronauts Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda, also made preparations for Saturday's undocking of the orbiter. Station crew members Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips helped.

The International space station's docking port, top left, backs away from the payload bay of the space shuttle Discovery in this view from television Saturday, Aug. 6, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    Raffaello is loaded with over two tons of items bound for Earth, including equipment, experiment results and even personal gear of crew members dating back to May 2003. Items for return to Earth have accumulated aboard the orbiting laboratory since the last shuttle visit in December 2002.

    Lawrence and Kelly used the station arm to unberth the module and return it to Discovery. The berthing was completed in the morning. Raffaello, one of three pressurized cargo carrying modules built in Italy for use aboard the shuttle, also brought equipment and supplies to the Station.

    After Raffaello was secured in Discovery's cargo bay, Camarda and Thomas used the shuttle arm to hand off the orbiter boom sensor system to the Station arm. Lawrence and Kelly reberthed the system in its position on the starboard sill of the cargo bay.

    Then, Lawrence radioed congratulations to those on the ground for the performance of the Canadian-built orbiter boom sensor system and robotic arms. She and Kelly radioed down the Halleluiah Chorus from Handel's Messiah to emphasize those congratulatory words.

    During more than a week of joint operations, the two crews worked together to transfer tons of supplies and equipment to and from the Station. They used still photography, video and three spacewalks to verify the health of the Shuttle's heat shield and test new techniques for repairing it.

    Together they paid tribute to the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives for space exploration.

    "It's been a wild ride," Collins said in a NASA television live broadcast. "We've been happy to finally put the icing on the cake through this mission, we are so happy things have worked out so well, see you next week, see you on the ground." Enditem