NASA TV

Strong crosswinds and thunderstorms in Florida forced a change of plans for the space shuttle landing today. So this afternoon, Endeavour returned to Earth with what NASA called a “safe and successful” landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave desert.

Years ago, I was a TV news field producer assigned to cover the landing of a space shuttle at this base. I will never forget what an incredible sight it was to see the shuttle appear in the sky, float down, and land like a giant bird. Oh, a major difference with this fly bird is a parachute that deploys to slow the landing.

The Endeavour crew reportedly completed its mission of a 16-day “extreme home improvement”  and service mission at the International Space Station. Among the projects, the much talked about water recovery system, which they hope will be able to recycle urine and perspiration into drinking water. The crew brought back some recycled samples to test, before putting the recovery system into operation. Good idea.

Next up for Endeavour is the flight back to Florida. Endeavour will get a piggyback ride on top of a Boeing 747 aircraft to Kennedy Space Center. The cost, $1.8 million. 

Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has quite a bit to smile about this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Witherspoon stars with Vince Vaughn in the new romantic comedy, “Four Christmases” and it’s the number one movie in the country.

Witherspoon won the best actress Oscar in 2006 for playing June Carter in “Walk the Line.” Nevertheless, the actress knows her way around a chick flick. The Tennessee native’s breakout film was the 2001 comedy, “Legally Blonde.”  The next year, she had another hit with the romantic comedy, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Witherspoon’s latest film, “Four Christmases” brought a lot of holiday cheer to the box office with an estimated $31.7 million debut. The family animated film, “Bolt” took second with around $26.6 million, followed closely by the vampire romance, “Twilight” in third with $26.4 million, “Quantum of Solace” in fourth with $19.5 million and rounding out the top five another new film, the Nicole Kidman-Hugh Jackson epic adventure, “Australia “with $14.8 million.

Another Obama book is racking up the dough for another publisher — even before it’s official release date. PowerHouse Books reportedly has sold all 55 thousand of the first edition of “Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History-Making Presidential Campaign,” by photographer Scout Tufankjian. The publisher has now ordered up 25 thousand copies of a second printing by the book’s release set for early December.

The book includes more than 200 color photos by Tufankjian, who has a degree in political science from Yale University and  has worked for major newspapers and magazines like Essence, Newsweek, and The New York Times. She is the only independent photog to cover the entire Obama presidential campaign from start to finish.

Publishers Weekly says the first edition of the book was largely bankrolled with credit cards from Tufankjian. Clearly, it was a wise investment.