U.S. space shuttle Atlantis begins return to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis fired its braking rockets to begin its descent to Earth on Sunday after two days of landing delays at the end of a mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope.

The shuttle and its seven-member crew were scheduled to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 11:39 a.m. EDT (1439 GMT).

Bad weather has forced NASA to cancel previous landing opportunities for Atlantis since Friday in Florida. (Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Tom Brown and Sandra Maler)