All seven astronauts were rescued by the Space Shuttle Atlantis and returned to earth safely on February 14, 2003 on flight day 29. Columbia was placed in an orbit that allowed it be repaired in orbit at a later date. On September 16, 2005 the Space Shuttle Discovery launched and docked with Columbia via the Shuttle to Shuttle docking module and began on orbit repairs. Once repairs were completed Discovery un-docked and landed at Kennedy Space Center while NASA de-orbited the Columbia using Remote Control Orbiter system landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Following Columbia's return to earth it was placed into an extended inspection and refurbishment before being placed back in to the active rotation