The Space Shuttle Discovery lands Friday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. ? Space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts took a cross-country detour and landed safely in California on Friday after stormy weather prevented them from returning home to Florida for the second day in a row.

Discovery swooped through the sky, breaking through clouds, and touched down at Edwards Air Force Base north of Los Angeles an hour before sunset, ending its delivery trip to the international space station.

“Welcome home, Discovery,” Mission Control radioed. “Congratulations on an extremely successful mission.”

Stormy weather made it too risky to bring Discovery back to its home port Thursday, and conditions were even worse Friday. So flight director Richard Jones opted for the clear flying conditions of the Mojave Desert.

Discovery’s homecoming took it over the Southern California coastline where it headed inland. Twin sonic booms were heard in Los Angeles and area cities.

A throng of military families and their children who gathered at a viewing spot at Edwards clapped and cheered after Discovery’s wheels touched the concrete runway.

NASA prefers Florida landings because the cross-country ferry trip, which involves transporting the shuttle atop a modified jumbo jet, costs about $1.8 million and takes more than a week.

Thunderstorms also delayed the beginning of Discovery’s mission. The shuttle blasted off Aug. 28 and logged 5.7 million miles.

At a post-landing news briefing, space shuttle launch integration manager Mike Moses said Discovery performed almost flawlessly in space.

Discovery and its crew, led by commander Rick Sturckow, dropped off tons of supplies and equipment, including a $5 million treadmill named after Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert. That was his consolation prize after pushing for naming rights to a new space station room. NASA chose Tranquility for the yet-to-be-launched room, even though Colbert won the online vote.

The treadmill will be assembled later this month. The space station’s newest resident, Nicole Stott, who rode up on Discovery, is expected to break it in as the first runner.

Coming back aboard Discovery was the astronaut whom Stott replaced, Timothy Kopra. He spent nearly two months in orbit and said he was looking forward to seeing his wife and two children, and enjoying a sip of beer.

Also hitching a ride back was Buzz Lightyear. The 12-inch action figure from the movie “Toy Story” flew up in mid-2008 as part of an educational program. The doll will return to Walt Disney World for a ticker tape parade at the beginning of October.

After sunset, six astronauts emerged from a transfer vehicle where they were taken after landing and inspected the shuttle’s underbelly.

“We’re very happy to be back on land here in California. We wished we could have gone to Florida today … but it just didn’t work out with the weather,” said Sturckow.