A SPACEWALKING astronaut gently pulled two potentially dangerous strips of protruding filler from Discovery’s tile belly with his gloved hand yesterday, successfully completing an unprecedented emergency repair.

A spacewalking astronaut gently pulled two potentially-dangerous strips of protruding fabric from Discovery’s belly with his gloved hand today, successfully completing an unprecedented emergency repair job.

Armed with forceps and a makeshift hacksaw, a Discovery astronaut floated from the ship’s airlock today for an unprecedented spacewalk to eliminate a potential source of dangerous overheating during the shuttle’s re-entry.

Discovery’s astronauts are preparing for a high-stakes task that’s never before been attempted: sending a spacewalker beneath the craft to repair filler sticking out from ship’s thermal tile belly.

AS NASA mulled what to do about fabric dangling from Discovery’s belly, two astronauts floated outside yesterday with another key task: to replace a failed spinning wheel that helps to steer the international space station.

The Discovery space shuttle was being prepared for blast-off today, with NASA managers confident that last minute hitches would not delay tomorrow’s launch.

A “devastated” Paula Radcliffe will reflect today on the tearful end to her Olympic dream after she dramatically quit a gruelling marathon.

JUSTIN GATLIN ran the race of his life, barely holding off the fastest Olympic 100m field in history to win the gold in 9.85 seconds.

Some of the eight tonnes of rubbish recovered from the slopes of Mount Everest has gone on display in Tokyo.