* Space shuttle Endeavour survives re entry after intense navel gazing prompted NASA to attempt nothing to aid the survival of the shuttle on re entry.
* Report of NSW Government corruption of gambling process
* Haneef's lawyer releases second transcript
* NSW prison foils terrorist's escape attempt, why wasn't government informed?
* Rudd accuses Bretheren of extremism, but still supports extremist cause in Iraq.
PM met with extremists: Rudd
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
FEDERAL Labor leader Kevin Rudd has labelled the Exclusive Brethren an extremist cult and called on Prime Minister John Howard to reveal what was discussed when he met its senior members recently.
Mr Rudd said he had real concerns about the impact of the Brethren on Australian communities and refused to meet its members.
"I believe this is an extremist cult and sect," Mr Rudd said.
"I also believe that it breaks up families, I also believe that there are real problems with the provision of modern education to kids under their system where they, for example, are not given full range of access to information technology."
Mr Rudd's comment followed a report today that Mr Howard had met senior members of the sect, including a man under federal police scrutiny for his spending on the Prime Minister's 2004 election campaign.
Mr Howard said today there was nothing wrong with him meeting with members of community groups, including the Exclusive Brethren, but deflected questions about whether the sect was providing election funding for the Liberal Party.
Mr Rudd said Mr Howard should detail the content of his most recent meeting with the Exclusive Brethren.
"Mr Howard has a responsibility to level with the Australian public," he said.
"How much money has the Exclusive Brethren given the Liberal Party, what was the content of his most recent meeting with the ... so-called supreme leader of the Exclusive Brethren and what undertakings have been given.
"Remember, the exclusive Brethren are currently under investigation of the Australian Federal Police concerning previous election activities.
"The Australian public deserves some answers on all of this, Mr Howard needs to be fair dinkum with the Australian community rather than pretending `they are some other group'.
"They are not. They split families and I am deeply concerned about their impact on communities across Australia."
Mr Howard said ealier today he was astonished that people thought it odd for him to meet members of the Exclusive Brethren.
"As prime minister, I have met an enormous number of organisations. It's my job," Mr Howard said.
"I find it quite astonishing that people think it odd that I have met with a lawful organisation. I do not deny for a moment I have met with members of the Exclusive Brethren, and why not? They're Australian citizens, it's a lawful organisation."
Mr Howard said he did not know whether the Brethren had made any donations to the Liberal Party.
"As for matters of financial support you should talk to them," he said.
Among those Mr Howard met in his electorate office was reportedly Mark Mackenzie, a Sydney pump salesman whose company, Willmac, allegedly channelled $270,000 into advertising for the 2004 election in support of Mr Howard.
The Australian Electoral Commission later investigated the Willmac money, while an Australian Federal Police investigation is continuing.
Treasurer Peter Costello today also admitted meeting the Exclusive Brethren many times.
"There's nothing wrong with meeting the Exclusive Brethren, they're Australian citizens just like anybody else," he said on Southern Cross radio.
Health Minister Tony Abbott also said he has met with members of the Exclusive Brethren sect and may do so again.
Mr Abbott today said he had met with members of the ultra-conservative Christian group, although not recently.
"I certainly don't believe I have had any recent meetings but, look, I will meet them again if I get the chance," he said.
Mr Abbott said he had no problem with his colleagues meeting members of the Exclusive Brethren.
"They are Australians, they are citizens," he said of the sect members.
The sect's world leader, Bruce D. Hales, his brother Stephen and another elder, Warwick John, also attended the August 8 meeting with the Prime Minister, a sect spokesman told Fairfax.
The spokesman denied the group asked for Mr Howard's help on the police probe or offered the PM assistance in his battle to retain his Sydney seat, Bennelong, against star Labor candidate Maxine McKew.
The spokesman said the elders assured Mr Howard they were praying for him, and that Willmac and Bennelong were not discussed.
Stephen Hales ran the Brethren's pro-Howard campaign in Bennelong in 2004, the report said.
A private detective in New Zealand claimed last year that he was hired by the Exclusive Brethren to dig dirt on Labour MPs including Prime Minister Helen Clark, and her husband.
Miss Clark said at the time that she had been told the Exclusive Brethren religious sect had hired a private detective to follow the couple.
"The Brethren stand condemned for this activity and frankly if the (Opposition) National Party does not now renounce any support either now or in the future from the Brethren then its credibility goes down the gurgler with them," she said.
Haneef police interview released
ReplyDeleteBy Drew Cratchley
LAWYERS for Dr Mohamed Haneef say they have released a transcript of a second police interview with the former terror suspect to counter "slander" by federal authorities.
The 378-page transcript of an interview with police in Brisbane on July 13 also proved the Indian-born doctor had "nothing to hide", lawyer Peter Russo said today.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews use selected quotes from the transcript at a July 31 media conference to justify his decision to cancel Dr Haneef's visa – a decision quashed by the Federal Court yesterday, but which will go to appeal.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) had not wanted the interview transcript released in full, but Mr Russo said Dr Haneef had asked his legal team to make it available.
"He wants all of the matters raised with him by federal police and his answers to those questions put into the public arena, because of the continuing attempts being made to slander his name by innuendo and selective release of information by government and federal spokespeople," Mr Russo said.
The AFP tonight attacked the release of the "confidential" transcript, saying such leaks generated misinformed and speculative reporting.
"The continuing attempts by Dr Haneef's defence team to use the media to run their case is both unprofessional and inappropriate and the AFP has raised this aspect with the Queensland Legal Services Commission," the AFP said.
Mr Russo said the transcript made it clear there was "no basis to allege wrongdoing against Dr Haneef, either in that interview of any of the evidence held by police or in any of the material likely to come from ongoing investigations".
Defending his decision to cancel Dr Haneef's visa, Mr Andrews referred on July 31 to AFP questions about an internet chatroom conversation the doctor had with his brother Shoaib on July 2.
The minister said investigators suspected the translated conversation may be evidence of Dr Haneef's prior awareness of planned bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.
Police also considered Dr Haneef's "hasty" departure on a one-way ticket from Brisbane airport at midnight on July 2 as "highly suspicious", Mr Andrews said.
The minister said Shoaib had also told his brother that "nothing has been found out about you".
While the transcript released today does not include that exact quote, Dr Haneef tells interviewing police after a similar quote that it was a reference to a news report on a website.
"He (Shoaib) got to know a lot of facts from the news and the BBC and things," Dr Haneef told police.
Mr Andrews further said Shoaib had referred to their cousin Kafeel – a suspect in the UK bomb plot – as being in "some sort of project over here".
In the transcript released today, Dr Haneef tells police the reference to a "project" related to UK bomb suspect cousin Kafeel's PhD thesis, not the terror bombing.
Dr Haneef also tells police that by the time of the chat room conversation, he had already sought parental leave from Gold Coast Hospital to see his newborn daughter and wife and had organised his father in India to buy him a ticket.
Dr Haneef says he unsuccessfully attempted to ring a British detective, who wanted to ask him questions about a SIM card he had loaned to his cousin Sabeel – a suspect in the UK bomb plot.
In the transcript, the doctor tells police he was ringing the detective to "clear himself" and ensure police knew that although he was leaving Australia, he was not absconding.
Mr Andrews said the release of the second interview did not alter his decision to revoke Dr Haneef's visa.
"The minister based his decision on a range of information that was more than the first transcript or the second transcript," a spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said.
Mr Russo also said he had concerns the police translation of the chat room conversation had not included all of the legal team's proposed corrections.
And he was suspicious of the fact the transcript had not been provided to the legal team earlier.
"Perhaps it was because the transcript of the second interview clearly shows what we have said all along – Dr Haneef was at all times trying to assist police," Mr Russo said.
The 27-year-old Dr Haneef is currently in India with his family, but wants to return to Australia if his legal bid to regain his visa is successful.
He was charged with a terror-related offence on July 14, but released when the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew its charge on July 27.
Dr Haneef's passport was returned to him and he left Australia voluntarily on July 28, before Mr Andrews then cancelled his work visa.
Terror suspect 'escape foiled'
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
JAIL officers have foiled an escape attempt by a terrorism suspect being held on remand at a New South Wales prison, authorities have said.
Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham said a female officer working at Lithgow Correctional Facility yesterday had discovered a metal bar in the roof of an exercise yard that had been partially cut at both ends.
The exercise yard was attached to the cell of a AA maximum security inmate, who was facing charges related to terrorism, the NSW Department of Corrective Services has said.
"Even if the prisoner had made a gap in the bars, he could not have got any further," Mr Woodham said.
The exercise yard is inside a compound bound by razor wire, electric fencing, security cameras and electronic detectors.
The prisoner was interviewed and later transferred to the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Centre.
Police have been called to investigate the alleged escape attempt and have examined the exercise yard.
A Corrective Services spokeswoman would not confirm if any cutting instruments had been discovered in the cell, but said security details were carried out daily.
Justice Minister John Hatzistergos visited the jail today and inspected the cell.
Govt in secret betting scandal
ReplyDeleteBy Will Temple and David Higgins
A SUBURBAN solicitor gambled more than $10 million while caught up in a secret government scheme that allowed Australia's biggest gaming group Tabcorp to lend money to customers to bet with.
Sydney solicitor Chris Fitzsimons, 62, lost his practice and was admitted to hospital after a breakdown over his mounting debts after being lured into a scheme known as “credit betting”.
Credit betting is illegal in most Australian states and many countries around the world, but in 2002 Tabcorp – then known as TAB Limited – secretly won New South Wales Government approval to loan money to gamblers it called “select high value wagering customers”.
The scheme, which has never before been revealed, exploited a legal loophole in the NSW Gaming Act, allowing punters to borrow up to $100,000 to gamble with TAB.
Documents seen by NEWS.com.au show TAB warned the NSW Government in 2002 that gaming tax revenues were under pressure, and asked the government to relax gambling restrictions.
The then gaming minister, Richard Face, later approved a “credit-betting” scheme and agreed it should be kept quiet after a government paper raised “the potential for criticism to be levelled at the Minister/Government”.
Mr Face told Parliament in 1996: “Concern has been expressed that the government is extending credit betting. That is not the case … the government and I have continued to express opposition … to a form of credit betting that gets people into difficulties.”
An investigation by NEWS.com.au also reveals:
• TAB installed free gaming terminals in the homes of gamblers, allowing bets to be placed directly into TAB’s computer system
• Punters were plied with perks including limo rides to corporate box sporting events, free alcohol, gifts including fridges and even digital cameras branded with the TAB logo
• The credit betting scheme was approved behind closed doors in secret correspondence between the gaming minister and senior TAB executives
Mr Fitzsimons was first contacted about the scheme by his TAB account manager in March 2003 as one of about 350 “Special Account Customers” who wagered at least $10,000 a week.
According to Mr Fitzsimons the manager called to arrange a face-to-face meeting over a “top secret” proposal that could not be talked about on the phone.
They met in a restaurant on Sydney’s North Shore, near Mr Fitzsimons’ Chatswood legal practice, where the manager offered him the government-approved credit betting facility on a trial basis.
“They were going to offer me $5000 a week with which to bet,” Mr Fitzsimons said. “It was top secret. I was to tell no-one about it – not even my wife – and I accepted.”
TAB account records seen by NEWS.com.au show the company kept Mr Fitzsimons on a credit drip-feed, allowing him to gamble in overdraft from April 11, 2003, after signing up for the credit betting scheme.
His losses were settled by TAB withdrawing money from his bank accounts each week under a direct debit authority with money then credited back into his betting account.
“If I had a wipeout on Sunday night and I had 20 cents left, at 8am Monday morning I would have $5000 in my (betting) account and I can start betting at the 12 o’clock race at Coonamble or Narrabri or wherever that day,” Mr Fitzsimons said.
“It was like opening the door of hell and looking in. You don’t want to look but I was living in hell.
“I borrowed from friends, relatives, clients to fix the problems. Facing reality and looking at the (bank) account was not something I wanted to do. The joy was 8am Monday morning.”
When Mr Fitzsimons – who has since been treated for gambling addiction - began to lose heavily, he says he was offered a credit limit increase to $10,000 per week – as long as he continued wagering that amount – an offer he rejected.
“It’s designed to keep you in the game in perpetuity,” Mr Fitzsimons said.
“The debt is the catalyst. It’s the debt that you must repay each week. The psychology is ‘I want to get it back’. The motive is to square the ledger.
“When you win you feel terrific – you’re the Master of the Universe.”
But Mr Fitzsimons said by the time a gambler gets to a few weeks of losses under the credit betting system “there’s a distance of carnage behind” them.
At his lowest point Mr Fitzsimons was described in a newspaper article as a "suspended solicitor under investigation by the NSW Law Society".
The NSW Law Society said it was unable to comment on the matter but the NSW Legal Practioners' Disciplinary Register notes Mr Fitzsimons' suspension for breach of the Legal Profession Act and refers to an alleged "misappropriation of trust funds".
His credit betting continued from April 2003 until his account was finally closed in July 2006.
Tabcorp holds itself up as good corporate citizen with a code of practice for responsible gambling stating:
“Tabcorp believes that industry, government and the community have a shared responsibility to help prevent the development of gambling related problems, and to ensure that problem gambling support services are available for individuals requiring assistance.”
Tabcorp says from the industry perspective the measures include providing “appropriate safety nets for customers unable to control their gambling behaviour” and to ensure that “managers and employees participate in training and awareness programs relating to responsible service”.
The totalizator in NSW was privatised in 1997 becoming TAB Limited until it was bought by Tabcorp in a 2004 takeover.
Credit betting is widely banned because of concerns about problem gambling in the community.
TAB has acknowledged in writing the $10 million Mr Fitzsimons wagered but has denied any illegality of their activities regarding the credit betting.
The company said a preliminary investigation found TAB did not illegally provide credit to Mr Fitzsimons and noted he had been a “regular punter since 1987 and a major punter since at least 1998”.
"Tabcorp has acted within the law and only offers betting facilities that have full State Government approval," Tabcorp spokesman Bruce Tobin told News.com.au today.
"It conducts its wagering business in accordance with its Responsible Gambling Policy."
Mr Tobin said Mr Fitzsimons had never registered with the company's problem gambler program Betcare.
-With additional reporting by Mark Schliebs
How deal was approved
ReplyDeleteBy Will Temple, David Higgins and Mark Schliebs
TAB first approached the NSW Government in March 2002, asking for a relaxation of gambling restrictions to compete with what it called "enormous pressure" from corporate bookmakers that threatened to hurt revenues for both the racing industry and the government.
“Unless counter-balancing strategies are implemented, TAB will see its wagering revenues and hence those of its major stakeholders – NSW Government and the NSW Racing Industry – placed under increasing risk,” TAB wrote to then NSW gaming minister, Richard Face on March 28, 2002.
A plan called the “Premium Customer Staking Facility” was one measure floated in the letter that would “via favourable Government action … provide the necessary impetus to secure wagering revenue levels into the future”.
Mr Face approved the plan in September 2002, writing to TAB: “I am pleased to inform you that … I have approved of TAB providing a Premium Customer Staking Facility.”
But the scheme was to be kept hush-hush, according to a government document headed on the issue of “Application by TAB Limited to introduce a Premium Customer Staking (Credit) Facility for Special Account Customers”.
The document noted: “One remaining concern is the potential for criticism to be levelled at the Minister/Government for approving new TAB credit betting arrangements in the current climate where problem gambling concerns are at the forefront.”
TAB proposed a “low-key” approach to marketing the scheme, according to a letter signed by TAB’s then chief executive of wagering Peter Kadar.
“TAB has … undertaken to restrict its promotion of the scheme to a ‘low-key’ approach in accordance with current community sensitivities involving the promotion of gambling services,” the letter said.
Mr Face wrote back: “I agree with the proposed ‘low-key’ promotional strategy.”
TAB also planned to develop “a Public Relations Strategy aimed at mitigating any concerns, especially via media, at the offering by TAB of credit”, according to a report prepared for the TAB board.
This morning Mr Face told NEWS.com.au he could not remember seeing the plans to introduce the credit betting facility.
“I can’t remember,” he said. “I’ve been retired for four-and-a-half years.
“If I did anything at the time I would have sought advice about it.”
Mr Face said he was a driving force behind responsible gambling policy in NSW.
“I was the person who introduced gambling harm minimisation,” he said.
Mr Kadar told NEWS.com.au today the facility came about following requests from "high-value customers".
"The reality for TAB is that we had high value customers who approached us," he said.
"It wasn't credit betting per se - they had to have security."
Mr Kadar said: "That's what bank guarantees are for."
He also said he was "absolutely" opposed to credit betting and stands by the decision.
A NSW government spokesman said today there would be no comment because of ongoing legal action over the matter.
The spokesman said: "No customers are currently involved in the scheme."
Who the scheme targeted
ReplyDeleteBy Will Temple and David Higgins
THE scheme was to target the "Special Account Customers" who punted at least $10,000 a week - being about 350 of TAB's then almost 200,000 customers, according to TAB documents.
But the plan was to extend the scheme to attract punters who were not already in this pool, the documents say.
In addition to targeting well-known punter John Singleton, who was “lukewarm” on the idea according to TAB records, a further four “high-profile” customers were selected for the initial phase.
A report prepared by accountancy firm Ernst &Young estimated the scheme would generate $10 million extra turnover per year.
A letter signed by then chief executive of wagering Peter Kadar acknowledged the risk of punters who could not pay their gambling debts.
But the company sought to assure its stakeholders, including the NSW Government that TAB would “meet the payment of all bets made by such customers … irrespective of any incidence of bad / unpaid debts under the scheme”.
The letter also said: “TAB will ensure that individual customers cannot ‘overdraw’ their approved facility limit via ‘on-the-day’ extensions.”
Another letter from TAB managing director Warren Wilson in May 2002 to Richard Face assured the minister there would be no financial risk to the government’s wagering revenue.
“TAB will ensure that there is no financial risk to our wagering business stakeholders; viz NSW Government (Wagering Taxes), NSW Racing Industry (Product Fees) and the investing public generally…”
Losing bets 'shouldn't be easier'
ReplyDeleteBy Mark Schliebs
PROVISIONS to allow gamblers to bet on credit is written into legislation in both New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, despite community concerns.
While every other state and territory government’s prohibit credit betting, where gambling agencies “lend” punters money to wager, some form of the activity could be allowed in ACT and NSW.
According to the ACT’s Betting (ACTTAB) Act 1964, the ACTTab "shall not, without reasonable excuse, provide credit to a person for the purpose of providing funds for betting".
In NSW, legislation requires the state’s gaming minister to sign off on any credit betting scheme.
Co-coordinator of the Problem Gambling Research Program Professor Alun Jackson said problem gamblers have enough trouble being able to limit spending their own money, let alone anyone else's.
"One of the things that is a very good form of control is having a pre-planned spending limit," Professor Jackson said.
"(To bet on credit then) it’s pretty hard to set a limit."
One of Australia’s most high-profile cases of credit betting came when Western Australian jeweller Craig Rosendorff lost millions of dollars to the state government-run TAB.
It’s believed that Mr Rosendorff lost more than $4 million on a protracted betting scheme between 1995 and 1998 before taking legal action against the TAB, who he claimed should refund the money back as credit betting was illegal.
The case was settled out of court in 2004.
The practice is also outlawed in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and in horse racing hub Hong Kong.
In the United States, individual states decide if the system is legal.
Paul Symond, creator of responsible gambling program BetSafe, said there was no need for credit betting.
"Credit betting allows (problem gamblers) to delve into money that isn’t theirs," Mr Symond said.
"We shouldn’t make (gambling) easier for those who can’t control it."
Gambling still 'hurting families'
ReplyDeleteMark Schliebs
JUST three years after a damning report found that about 300,000 Australians were problem gamblers, TAB Limited's plans to introduce credit betting were approved
When evidence of how serious the nation's problem gambling was becoming was released by the Australian Productivity Commission in 1999, all forms of government stepped in to find solutions to the problem.
The Australia’s Gambling Industries report said that of the 300,000 problem gamblers around the nation, around 130,000 had "severe" problems with their punting.
It also said that one in ten problem gamblers had contemplated suicide because of their habits and half of those in counselling reported losing time from work or study to bet.
More recently, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that more than $2.1 million was lost by Australians on TAB systems alone in the 2004-05 financial year – nearly double the amount lost in 2000-01 ($1.69 million).
But chair of the InterChurch Gambling Taskforce Mark Zirnsak said problem gambling didn't just lead to financial loss.
Dr Zirnsak said that arguments between partners, divorces, loss of homes and domestic violence occur frequently as a direct result of gambling.
"In terms of the impact of gambling, I don't think much has changed (since 1999)," he said.
Even Tabcorp, which later acquired TAB Limited and its credit betting operation, started developing plans to help problem gamblers kick their habit.
"Tabcorp is firm in its desire to develop long term relationships with all its customers, where the company does not want that relationship harmed by customers not being responsible in their gambling behaviour," the bookmaking giant said on its website.
"Following from this commitment, in 2003 Tabcorp appointed a dedicated responsible gambling manager to coordinate group wide responsible gambling strategies.
"Through this appointment, the company examined best practice both across Australia and internationally, involving consultation with employees, counselling services, community groups, governments and expert researchers."
Space Shuttle Lands Safely Despite Gouge
ReplyDeleteBy KENNETH CHANG at NYT
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Aug. 21 — The space shuttle Endeavour glided to a safe landing here at 12:32 p.m. Eastern time, apparently not much worse for wear.
A look at the underside of the Endeavour appeared to validate the decision by mission managers not to try to repair a small but deep gouge, caused by a small piece of falling foam, in two heat tiles on the underside of the right wing. The ultrahot gases streaming past the wing surface during re-entry burned a slightly larger scoop out of the gouged tiles, but the additional damage to the craft appeared to be limited.
Michael D. Griffin, NASA’s administrator, who greeted the returning astronauts on the runway and then examined the damage close-up, said he saw some signs of heating and some erosion. “But over all, you’d be hard put to tell it went through a re-entry,” he said at a news conference after the landing.
Tiles in that area will be removed for examination of the underlying aluminum structure.
The Endeavour returned “in outstanding condition” over all, said Michael D. Leinbach, the shuttle launch director at the Kennedy Space Center. “Very few dings otherwise.”
The landing concluded a successful mission that lasted 12 days, 17 hours and 55 minutes and covered nearly 5.3 million miles in 201 orbits. During the visit to the International Space Station, astronauts on the Endeavour conducted four spacewalks to perform construction on the space station, which is now about 60 percent complete.
While the falling foam had, in the end, little effect on the Endeavour, it may have repercussions for later flights. Engineers are analyzing whether modifications should be made to brackets that hold a fuel line on the external fuel tank. Ice that formed on the brackets after the tank was filled with ultracold liquid hydrogen and oxygen is believed to have caused a small piece of foam, about one-third of an ounce, to come loose 58 seconds into flight.
NASA has delayed attaching the solid rocket boosters to the external fuel tank for the next mission until a decision is made on what to do with the brackets. Mr. Leinbach said that there was a cushion of several days in the schedule of preparations for the launching of the Discovery, and that modifications like reducing the amount of foam on the brackets would take a couple of days at most.
“We’re still pointed to Oct. 23 for our launch,” Mr. Leinbach said.
Perhaps more likely to be affected is the subsequent mission, the launching of the Atlantis in early December, because the final preparations of attaching the orbiter to the external fuel tank cannot take place in NASA’s giant Vehicle Assembly Building until the Discovery is moved out of the building to the launching pad.
Dr. Griffin said he and William H. Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator for space operations, were inclined not to make changes, because foam on the brackets was small and it was unclear whether changes would improve or worsen the situation.
NASA is also looking at possible changes to its countdown schedule. Following the loss of the Columbia in 2003 because of damage caused by falling foam, a one-hour “hold” was added to the countdown to allow inspectors to look for ice buildup. But the extra time may also allow more ice to form.
But the primary mission today was Endeavour’s safe return. At 11:05 a.m. Eastern time, Christopher J. Ferguson, an astronaut at the NASA’s mission control center in Houston, radioed to the Endeavour crew, “You are go for the de-orbit burn.”
At 11:25, while over the Indian Ocean, the Endeavour fired its maneuvering thrusters for 3 minutes and 35 seconds. For the next hour, it dropped out of orbit toward Earth’s atmosphere. The craft cruised over Costa Rica and Cuba, then over southern Florida, where the skies were blue with broken clouds and a steady breeze.
Two quick, loud sonic booms thundered across the space center as the shuttle passed to the east. It then made a U-turn for its final approach from the north. In a picture-perfect landing, its rear tires touched the runway at 12:32 p.m., and the nose gently swiveled to the ground 13 seconds later. Slowed by a drag chute, it rolled to a stop about a minute later.
“Congratulations, welcome home,” Mr. Ferguson of mission control said to the Endeavour crew, which included Barbara Morgan, the former teacher who was the backup to Christa McAuliffe on the ill-fated Challenger mission in 1986 and who later made the career change to full-time astronaut. “You’ve given a new meaning to ‘higher’ education.”