Shuttle Discovery heading for home

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Discovery and its crew left the International Space Station on Saturday and aimed for a homecoming in two days to wrap up one of the last missions of NASA's storied shuttle program.

The space station residents were "really, really sad" to see their friends go. "But it's time," said Oleg Kotov, the station's Russian skipper.

"We enjoyed every minute of it," shuttle commander Alan Poindexter said. "Thanks for the great hospitality."

Discovery undocked as the two spacecraft soared nearly 220 miles above New Guinea. Poindexter and his crew will spend Sunday getting ready for reentry. Landing is set for Monday morning.

A few hours earlier, the seven shuttle fliers and six station inhabitants gave each other bear hugs before sealing the hatches between their spacecraft. The crews' matching knit shirts created a jumble of turquoise and maroon.

It may be a long time before so many people are together in space. Only three shuttle flights remain, each with a crew of six. That's one fewer person than usual to allow more room for cargo, and will result in 12 people orbiting together, instead of 13.

Four of the 13 on this mission were women, a world record. The crowd included eight Americans, three Russians, and two Japanese.

Unlike previous shuttle departures, there was no live, continuous TV from Discovery and therefore only a few limited still-shot views of the nearly completed space station. Following the April 5 launch, Discovery's main antenna failed, resulting in a near picture blackout, at least on the shuttle side.

There were plenty of breathtaking shots of the shuttle, at least, beamed down from the space station.

"We loved having you here," the station's Timothy "TJ" Creamer called out. His Japanese crewmate, Soichi Noguchi, urged the shuttle astronauts to wave from 660 feet away. "You guys look awesome," Noguchi said. He wished them "sayonara" as well as "adios." Goodbyes also echoed back and forth in Russian: "Do svidaniya."