Endeavour Astronauts Scan Shuttle Heat Shield for Damage

Astronautsaboard NASA?s space shuttle Endeavour inspected their spacecraft?s heat shieldfor damage Saturday while engineers on Earth tackled minor communicationsglitches as the orbiter heads toward a weekend rendezvous with theInternational Space Station.

Shuttleastronauts used a laser-tipped inspection boom to scan Endeavour?s wing edges andnose cap for launch debris damage. They took extra time to take a close look atthe base of the shuttle?s left rear engine pod, where part of an insulatingblanket apparently ripped free during Endeavour?s Fridaynight launch.

The lostblanket is likely one of two pieces of debris spotted during Endeavour?sliftoff and reported to the crew by Mission Control late last night, said LeRoyCain, chair of the mission?s management team, in a status briefing. The blanketis less than an inch thick, between 12 and 18 inches (30-45 cm) long and 4inches (10 cm) wide, and not in an area that gets too hot during re-entry, headded.

?This isnot an area that is of great concern to us in terms of losing a blanket,? Cainsaid.

Endeavouris due to dock at the space station on Sunday at 5:13 p.m. EST (2113 GMT) todeliver a new station crewmember, two new bedrooms, a second kitchen, extrabathroom, exercise gear, and a water recycling system that filters urine andsweat back into drinkable water. As they approach, astronauts aboard thestation will conduct a photographic survey of Endeavour?s heat shield as well.

NASA haskept a close eye on shuttle heat shield health the loss of theshuttle Columbia and its astronaut crew in 2003. A piece of fuel tankinsulation broke free during that shuttle?s launch and slammed into itswing-mounted heat shield, causing it to burn up during re-entry. Astronauts nowroutinely inspect their spacecraft?s heat shield just after launch, beforedocking at the space station and just before landing.

So far,Endeavour?s wing edges and nose cap have shown no obvious damage, but a team ofspecialists will spend the next few days poring through the inspection resultsto be sure, Cain said.

Meanwhile,engineers on Earth are working through two unrelated glitches with Endeavour?smain radio communications antenna, which appears to have separate hardware andsoftware woes keeping it from working normally.

Cain saidthat the antenna doubles as radar tool during shuttle dockings at the spacestation. But Endeavour can use a backup star tracking system in its place ifthe glitches bog the radar function down during the shuttle?s planned spacestation arrival tomorrow.

Commandedby veteran spaceflyer Chris Ferguson, Endeavour?s seven-astronaut crew isflying a planned15-day mission to the station to make repairs and install vital equipmentdesigned to double the outpost?s crew size up to six people next year. Fourspacewalks are planned to clean up an ailing solar array gear damaged by metalshavings and grinding.

NASAwelcomed the crew to their first full day in space earlier today with the song?Shelter? by Xavier Rudd, a long-distance dedication for Ferguson from Earth.

?Always agreat day to be in space,? Fergusonsaid.                                                             

NASA isproviding live coverage of Endeavour?s mission on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com?smission coverage and NASA TV feed.

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