NASA's shuttle left Earth's orbit bound for a 1:25 pm (2125 GMT) landing at Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles, the US space agency's central control said shortly after giving the green light for the descent.

"Endeavour, Houston, you are go for the deorbiting burn," said Alan Poindexter at the Johnson Space Center amid favorable weather conditions at Edwards.

"We'll see you on the ground in California," responded Endeavour commander Chris Ferguson.

The shuttle was originally scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral, Florida, but stormy weather there forced NASA to call for the California detour.

Two of the shuttle's small motors were turned on for just under three minutes at 2019 GMT in order to slow Endeavour down to 328 kilometers (204 miles) per hour from its previous speed of 28,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) per hour.

The shuttle then began its descent in autopilot toward Earth where it will land at Edwards in California's Mojave Desert, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Los Angeles.

Endeavour and its seven astronauts will thus conclude their 16-day space mission that included 12 days docked at the International Space Station, where they delivered 14.5 tonnes of equipment in order to double the station's crew capacity from three to six.

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