Space shuttle Atlantis landed at Edwards AFB at 11:39 EDT, completing a 13-day journey of approximately 5.3 million miles in space.

Atlantis's mission was intended to give a new lease of life to Hubble.

The orbiting observatory is regarded as one of the most important scientific tools ever built.

The fifth and final mission to service Hubble has been hailed as a great success.

Over five spacewalks, astronauts installed new instruments and thermal blankets, repaired two existing instruments, replaced gyroscopes and batteries.

The only disappointment was the failure to restore the high resolution channel (one of three) on Hubble's main camera - the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

The US space agency cleared Atlantis for its fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere following in-flight inspections of its heat shield by the crew.

The Hubble telescope was released from the shuttle's robotic arm on Tuesday.