Discovery travelled nearly nine million kilometres during its 13 day mission in a near flawless display of America’s space technology.
"It was an enormously successful flight ... we're back on track," NASA chief Michael Griffin said.
The success of the mission has paved the way for the resumption of regular shuttle flights in the wake of the Columbia disaster in 2003 that put the program on hold.
The crew and National Aeronautics and Space Administration leaders were delighted to see the space vehicle did not have the beat-up appearance of previous shuttle flights.
"This is the cleanest orbiter anyone remembers seeing," said Mr Griffin.
Praise from the President
US President George W. Bush issued a statement hailing the crew for "a job well done."
Mr Bush praised NASA for their dedication "to putting our space program back on track and implementing our nation's vision for human and robotic space exploration."
NASA heaved a sigh of relief as Discovery came to a full stop on the 4,572-metre runway of the Kennedy Space Center.
"The final entry was beautiful," said Commander Steven Lindsey. The last moments of a shuttle mission are among the most critical.
It was upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere that Columbia had burst into flames on February 1, 2003, killing the crew of seven.
As it slices through the atmosphere the shuttle engines are turned off and it glides toward the landing facility, touching down at about 350 kilometres an hour.
NASA hoped Discovery's successful mission would help ease concerns over the shuttle program that have persisted since the Columbia disaster, and pave the way for a resumption of regular flights in August.
The latest shuttle voyage was largely aimed at improving the safety of the shuttle missions that are critical to plans to complete construction of the International Space Station (ISS) by 2010.
NASA says the orbiting space station is a key component in US ambitions to send astronauts back to the moon, and eventually to Mars.
Mission accomplished
During the mission, astronauts Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers performed three spacewalks to test shuttle repair techniques and fix equipment needed to continue building the ISS.
The crew delivered critical supplies and removed discarded material and experiment results from the orbiting laboratory.
They also dropped off European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter of Germany, who became the space station's third resident.
Commander Lindsey said the mission's two main objectives were accomplished. "We are ready to go assemble the station, we are ready to start flying shuttles on a more regular basis."
But Commander Griffin added a note of caution. "This is as good a mission as we've ever flown ... but we won't get over confident," he said.
He emphasised that there are still 16 flights to go before the fleet of three shuttles is retired.