Astronauts
aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour will scan their orbiter's vital heat
shield today for any signs of damage following their successful Wednesday
launch.
Commanded
by veteran shuttle flyer Scott Kelly, Endeavour's seven STS-118 astronauts will
spend their first full day in orbit performing a meticulous survey of the
shuttle's wing
edges and nose cap.
"The
procedures for this have all been automated over the last couple of missions,"
said Matt Abbott, NASA's lead shuttle flight for Endeavour's STS-118 flight, of
the inspection. "We've really evolved into a very efficient and effective
way of scanning for any damage due to the ascent environment."
Endeavour's
STS-118 crew launched
late Wednesday on a construction mission to the International Space
Station. Kelly and his crewmates are hauling some 5,000 pounds (2,267
kilograms) of cargo, spare parts and a new addition to the station's
starboard-side truss to the orbital laboratory.
An
up-close look
NASA analysts
will study the images and data from today's heat shield scan to determine the
health of Endeavour's heat-resistant carbon composite panels and tiles. The
survey is a now-standard activity for space shuttle crews since NASA returned
its orbiter fleet to flight after the 2003 Columbia accident.
STS-118
mission specialists Tracy Caldwell and Rick Mastracchio are expected to begin
today's survey at about 12:21 p.m. EDT (1621 GMT) using Endeavour's robotic arm
and a 50-foot (15-meter) extension boom tipped with sensors.
"We
use the robotic arm with that boom on the end of it and basically look at the
whole leading edge of the wings and the nose ... to make sure that we haven't
taken any kind of hits of any sort that would cause us a problem for entry,
like on Columbia," STS-118 mission specialist Barbara
Morgan, a teacher-turned-astronaut who will also aid in the survey.
"There are quite a few of us doing this job."
Shuttle
pilot Charlie Hobaugh will also aid in the heat shield scan, which is expected
to run about six hours, mission managers have said. If any areas of concern are
found in the survey, the shuttle crew has time set aside on Sunday for a
follow-up inspection, they added.
Cameras
mounted to Endeavour's external tank caught between four and five small pieces
of debris falling away form the orbiter after its late Wednesday liftoff, but
late in the flight when the particles would not fly fast enough to cause
significant damage, NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier said after
the launch.
NASA has
kept a close watch on any debris shed during shuttle launches since 2003, when
a chunk of fuel tank insulation foam fell free during the launch of Columbia
and breached the orbiter's left wing-mounted heat shield. The resulting damaged
led the loss of the orbiter and its seven-astronaut crew.
Since then,
NASA has redesigned shuttle fuel tanks to reduce the amount of foam debris
during liftoff and instituted in-flight inspections to verify the integrity of
orbiter heat shields.
NASA is broadcasting Endeavour's
STS-118 mission live on NASA TV. Click
here for mission updates and SPACE.com's NASA TV feed.
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