CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. — Discovery’s astronauts used lasers and digital cameras Wednesday to examine the shuttle’s wings for any signs of launch damage as they gained on the international space station with every orbit of Earth.
The good news was that Discovery’s fuel tank did not appear to lose any significant amount of foam insulation during the crucial first two minutes of flight, said John Shannon, head of the mission management team.
More data and analyses are needed, however, before NASA can say with absolute certainty that the shuttle’s thermal shielding made it through the launch damage-free.
Just as important will be the hundreds of digital pictures snapped by the three space-station residents as Discovery makes its final approach for this morning’s docking. The shuttle will do a slow-motion backflip, exposing its belly.
The Associated Press
