Inspection Reveals Nothing Amiss With Orbiter

Following the discovery of not one, but two mysterious objects floating in the vicinity of the shuttle Atlantis Tuesday, astronauts onboard STS-115 wrapped up inspections of the orbiter's heat shield early Wednesday morning.

And the verdict? Atlantis is cleared to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center Thursday morning at 6:21 am EDT. The decision comes after engineers toiled overnight over pictures taken of the orbiter from a camera on the shuttle's robotic arm.

Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told reporters at a 12:00 pm press conference that NASA may never know for certain what the debris was... but he did hazard a guess on the source of at least one of the objects seen floating near the shuttle.

Holding up a thin piece of plastic shimstock used to install the shuttle's ceramic tiles, Hale said images taken of the orbiter revealed one area where such a piece of plastic was evident prior to Tuesday's incident... but it's not there now.

Hale speculated the plastic strip was shaken loose during Tuesday's reaction thruster control test -- and reiterated that its absence in no way compromises the shuttle for its trip through the earth's atmosphere.

During the first inspection, the astronauts used cameras on the shuttle’s robotic arm to conduct the scans. Imagery specialists and engineers reviewed the data from today’s scan and from previous activities. They did not see any areas of concern from the first inspection.

The astronauts then attached the orbiter boom sensor system to the arm and performed additional inspections. The boom allowed engineers to inspect areas that could not be seen with the arm above. Specialists continue to analyze the data.

Mission managers decided to wave off STS-115 landing attempts today in order to allow the crew to inspect the orbiter. The extra scans are being used to ensure all of Atlantis’ critical equipment is in good shape for landing.

To get ready for landing, the crew may pack up gear and stow the Ku-Band antenna later today. The antenna is used for television coverage.

Forecasts for Thursday call for acceptable weather at the Florida landing site.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle