Thu, Jul 06, 2006

NASA Says Shuttle Inspections Reveal No Sign Of Damage

...But Birds May Have Left A 'Mark'

Perhaps the best news of the space shuttle Discovery's mission so far is that lengthy inspections by both astronauts and ground teams have so far failed to turn up any signs of damage from falling foam.

Discovery appears to be in tip-top shape as it moves closer to a Thursday rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Engineers are now going over about 70 minutes worth of video taken by astronauts using a special boom mounted on the shuttle's robotic arm. Along with a laser, the video camera carefully examined the entire space plane... focusing on the shuttle's nose and leading edges.

There was some momentary concern about white blotches on the edge of the left wing. They, however, turned out to be harmless -- one NASA official said they might have been bird droppings.

On this second return to flight mission, the crew will test new methods of checking the shuttle for launch damage and will drop German astronaut Thomas Reiter off for a six-month stay aboard the ISS.

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NASA Says Shuttle Inspections Reveal No Sign Of Damage

...But Birds May Have Left A 'Mark'

FMI: www.nasa.gov

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