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THE shuttle Discovery astronauts glided sensors over their ship's wings and nose yesterday, scouting for any heat shield problems before Friday's scheduled landing in Florida.Godspeed Discovery.
The survey was intended to find any damage from tiny meteoroids or space debris that may have occurred since the shuttle reached orbit on December 9. The astronauts inspected their ship once already to see if it made it through the launch without problems.
Both inspections stem from safety upgrades implemented after the 2003 Columbia disaster, which was triggered by a piece of foam insulation that fell off the shuttle's fuel tank during launch and hit the ship's wing.
Damage from the impact was so severe the shuttle broke apart as it flew through the atmosphere for landing 16 days later, killing all seven crew members.
Though Discovery showed no signs of damage from launch, NASA decided the final inspection was more important than preserving the standard two-day supply of cryogenic chemicals, which are used to make electricity, for any weather-related or technical problems that might postpone landing.
Discovery's mission had been slated to last 12 days, which would have left enough supplies for the two-day reserve, but was extended a day to retract a jammed solar wing panel on the International Space Station.
Discovery departed the space station on Tuesday after rewiring the orbiting outpost and adding a truss segment to its backbone.
With just one day's supply of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in the tanks, Discovery is poised to return to Earth on Friday. NASA mobilized all three shuttle landing sites, including its rarely used New Mexico landing strip, to improve the chances of a homecoming on Friday.
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