Discovery's Astronauts to Inspect Shuttle

SPACE CENTER, Houston - Discovery's astronauts were unloading 15 tons of supplies onto the space station Friday and they planned to check the shuttle for damage after
NASA said a chunk of foam may have hit a wing during liftoff.

"They want to get all of the angles to make sure that we haven't missed any small thing," deputy shuttle program manger Wayne Hale said.

NASA said Thursday that Discovery escaped damage from the potentially deadly chunk of foam that broke off from the fuel tank, but may have been struck in the wing by a much smaller piece.

Even if the small foam fragment did hit, engineers believe the impact caused no damage of concern, Hale said.

Despite the latest development, officials said Discovery still looks safe to fly home in a week, but stressed it will be another few days before the space agency can conclusively give the shuttle a clean bill of health.

NASA analysts have identified 11 areas — including Discovery's wings, nose and belly — they wanted astronauts to take another look at Friday, using the shuttle's new laser-tipped extension to its robotic arm.

Also Friday, astronauts prepared tools for the mission's first spacewalk Saturday. Astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi plan to exit the shuttle for three orbital outings.

During the spacewalks, the pair will try out new repair techniques for the shuttle's tiles and delicate carbon panels; replace a gyroscope, which helps steer the space station; and install a storage platform on the station.

NASA also said it was trying to come up with ways to leave more water and oxygen aboard the space station than initially planned, given the grounding of its shuttle fleet. Water is generated as a byproduct of the shuttle's fuel cells, which power the spacecraft.

NASA suspended future shuttle flights earlier this week after learning that the big piece of foam insulation, which weighed less than a pound, flew from Discovery's external fuel tank. It was an alarming repeat of the problem that doomed Columbia more than two years ago. The foam missed Discovery.

The piece of insulating foam that broke off Columbia's external tank during liftoff knocked a hole in its left wing. The searing gases of re-entry melted the wing from the inside out, causing the spacecraft to disintegrate as it headed to Cape Canaveral, Fla. in February 2003. All seven astronauts aboard died.

The small bit of foam that may have hit Discovery's right wing came off about 20 seconds after the big piece, and was from the same general area, Hale said. None of the newly installed wing sensors detected anything unusual.

An earlier inspection with the laser didn't reveal any damage. Camera views during liftoff were inconclusive because the foam tumbled out of sight.

NASA already has run tests showing that if the foam did strike the wing, it would have exerted just one-tenth of the energy needed to cause worrisome damage, Hale said.

"So we feel very good about this," he said.