Astronauts inspect shuttle for damage

Space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts unfurled a 100ft laser-tipped pole and surveyed their ship for any launch damage while drawing ever closer to their destination, the international space station.

At least two pieces of debris were spotted on Friday in launch photos and engineers were looking at the images to determine whether the debris – or anything else – hit Endeavour. Mission Control told the astronauts there were no obvious signs of damage.

The spacecraft and its crew of seven were on track to hook up with the space station today, currently home to three astronauts.

The shuttle was delivering tons of equipment for remodelling, including a new bathroom, kitchenette, two sleeping compartments and an unprecedented recycling system for turning urine into drinking water.

“It’s always a great day to be in space,” shuttle commander Christopher Ferguson observed.

The day centred around the shuttle inspections, standard procedure ever since Columbia shattered during re-entry in 2003.

Yesterday, Ferguson’s crew used the extra-long inspection boom to scrutinise Endeavour’s right wing. The nose was next up, followed by the left wing.

The shuttle wings and nose are especially vulnerable, taking the most heat when a shuttle descends through the atmosphere at the end of a flight. Even a seemingly minor gash could spell doom. Columbia was brought down by a hole in its wing the size of a dinner plate; all seven astronauts were killed.

Mission Control spotted two pieces of debris trailing Endeavour during lift off, one at 33 seconds and the other just over two minutes into the flight. There was no immediate indication that the debris – most likely foam insulation or ice from the external fuel tank – slammed into the shuttle, but engineers needed to make sure.

To gather even more clues, Mission Control asked the shuttle astronauts to check an area at the tail of the shuttle, near the orbital-manoeuvring engine pod on the left side, where a thermal blanket may have been yanked off during launch.

Virtually every inch of Endeavour will be photographed with zoom lenses when it approaches the space station today.

Station commander Mike Fincke ran through his picture-taking checklist with Mission Control yesterday to make sure he had everything down.

Once Endeavour is docked, the astronauts will begin unloading and installing the approximately 14,000lbs of home-improvement equipment. It’s all crucial if Nasa is to expand the size of the station crew from three to six by next summer.

The space station currently has one kitchen, one bathroom and three bedrooms. Endeavour’s delivery will transform the orbiting outpost into a two-kitchen, two-bath, five-bedroom home.