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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, carrying the orbiter Columbia on its back, kicks up dust as it touches down on runway 33 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility. Columbia began a protracted trip from California on March 1. Unfavorable weather conditions kept it on the ground at Dyess AFB, Texas, until it could return to Florida on March 5 when it landed at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip. Columbia had to wait for the orbiter Atlantis which had completed a ferry flight to KSC on March 5 to be towed from the SLF before making the final hop to KSC. Columbia is returning from a 17-month-long modification and refurbishment process as part of a routine maintenance plan. The orbiter will next fly on mission STS-107, scheduled Oct. 25