WASHINGTON: US shuttle Endeavour hastened Earthward on Monday to dodge possible disruption to landing by a looming hurricane, but its mission to develop an orbiting jump-off point for Mars was judged a success.

The crew tested Endeavour’s systems and engines and stowed equipment on the shuttle Monday morning to prepare for the moment when they will blast back through the Earth’s atmosphere, space agency NASA said in its latest report.

Landing had been scheduled for Wednesday but the two-week mission was cut a day short for fear that the control center in Houston, Texas may have to be evacuated if it is grazed by Hurricane Dean, now roaring across the Caribbean.

Dean was heading full-pelt for Mexico Monday morning but was not expected to swing up to Texas until Wednesday, if at all.Endeavour is to land at another site, the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, but this is less well equipped than Houston for ground control operations. The Endeavour crew will have two chances to land there — at 12:32 pm (1632 GMT) and 2:06 pm (1806 GMT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.—AFP