First Look Finds Shuttle Heat Shield in Good Shape

HOUSTON - An early look at imagery of NASA?s space shuttle Discovery and its discarded fuel tank has found the orbiter?s heat shield to be in good shape one day after launch, mission managers said Wednesday.

Discovery?s seven-astronaut crew scanned the spacecraft?s wings and nose cap with a sensor-tipped inspection boom today while engineers on Earth studied imagery of the shuttle?s Tuesday liftoff and its jettisoned fuel tank.

?The preliminary indication is that there is nothing that anyone is concerned about at all,? said John Shannon, head of Discovery?s STS-120 mission management team.

Shannon said a complete analysis of the heat shield inspection should be completed by week?s end, when it can be combined with high-resolution images of Discovery?s belly-mounted tiles that will be taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Shuttle commander Pamela Melroy will guide Discovery through an orbital flip before docking at the ISS early Thursday to allow the station?s Expedition 16 crew to photograph the shuttle?s undercarriage.

An early analysis of Discovery?s fuel tank found that some modifications designed to limit foam loss appeared to be a success, Shannon said, adding that about six pieces of debris seen in launch video occurred too late to pose any risk to the shuttle.

?Overall, the tank performed extremely well,? Shannon said.

NASA has continually worked to limit the amount of foam debris during shuttle launches after a piece damaged the Columbia orbiter?s heat shield in 2003, leading to the loss of the spacecraft and its crew during landing.

Melroy and her crewmates spent a bit more time than usual inspecting Discovery?s heat shield to get a clearer view of heat-resistant panels lining its wing leading edges.

Before the shuttle?s launch, an independent NASA engineering group recommended that the agency replace three of the panels after finding possible defects in their exterior coating. Mission managers, however, found Discovery fit to fly and believe that any significant degradation in the panels would turn up in the data gathered from today?s inspection.

Discovery?s STS-120 crew will deliver a new orbital room dubbed Harmony during a planned 14-day mission to the ISS. Once completely installed, the Italian-built Harmony module will serve as the docking port for European and Japanese laboratories. During their mission, shuttle astronauts also plan to relocate a massive solar array segment and swap out one member of the station?s Expedition 16 crew.

Discovery is scheduled to dock at the ISS on Thursday at 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT).

?It?s wonderful to be back in space again and I?m looking forward to getting back to the ISS tomorrow,? said Discovery mission specialist Scott Parazynski, who is making his fifth spaceflight on the STS-120 mission. ?It should be a really great day.?

NASA is broadcasting Discovery's STS-120 mission to the International Space Station live on NASA TV. Click here for mission updates and NASA TV from SPACE.com.

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