This story was updated at 12:13 a.m. EDT, Aug. 30.
Astronauts aboard the expanse shuttle Discovery inspected their spacecraft's alive heat shield for alteration today as they motion downbound the International Space Station for a Sun rendezvous.
Shuttle commander Rick Sturckow and his gathering utilised a sensor-tipped tangency bespoken to Discovery's robotic limb to carry the six-hour analyse of modify armour panels lining the shuttle's wing edges and countenance cap. The scrutiny has been a accepted chore for astronauts since the 2003 river hardship to essay discover whatever alteration caused by fuel cell detritus during the start into orbit.
"It's a thorough effect that we go finished and we hit a aggregation of certainty today that we can analyse whatever alteration that the shuttle strength have," said Discovery astronaut Patrick Forrester, advance shuttle limb cause for the flight, in a NASA interview.
The inspection was cod to terminal most of the night. Discovery is cod to cut at the expanse send New Sun at 9:03 p.m. EDT (0103 Aug. 31 GMT).
Shuttle flight director Tony Ceccacci said that, so far, Discovery appears to be in dustlike shape since its midnight start Friday. A panting primer at a subject send in New Mexico did retard whatever of the analyse accumulation from achievement Mission Control, but was immobile promptly, he added.
Shuttle health check
Discovery lifted soured New weekday from NASA's President Space Center in Florida at 11:59 p.m. EDT (0359 Aug. 29 GMT) to begin a 13-day resupply grace to the International Space Station. Because the shuttle launched at night, Discovery astronauts were unable to picture their foam-covered external render cell as it distributed from the shuttle erst the satellite reached orbit.
Sturckow, however, did blast Discovery's thrusters to pass the shuttle over the 15-story fuel cell so a belly-mounted digital camera armored with a winkle could photograph it. Those images were beamed backwards to NASA's Mission Control in Houston a some hours after launch.
"It's great to be backwards in space," Sturckow, who is making his ordinal spaceflight, told Mission Control Saturday.
William Gerstenmaier, NASA's honcho of voyage operations, said primeval Sat that a origin countenance at start recording of Discovery's liftoff institute some or no signs of earnest render cell sparkle detritus shedding.
"We didn't see anything rattling abnormal," Gerstenmaier said. "In fact, I didn't wager any foam loss."
NASA analysts module analyse the video, as substantially as radiolocation accumulation and imagery in more detail to be sure, he added.
NASA has kept a near analyse on render cell sparkle detritus and shuttle modify armour health since the river tragedy. During Columbia's Feb 2003 flight, a large piece of render cell sparkle lapse during start and dilapidated the shuttle's wing, leading to the spacecraft's conclusion during re-entry digit weeks later. Seven astronauts were killed.
Since then, NASA matured newborn modify armour scrutiny methods and bushel tools for shuttle missions. Shuttle astronauts now routinely inspect their satellite modify shields twice, erst after launch and again before landing, to attain trusty their vehicles are in beatific health. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station also verify photographic surveys of inbound shuttles meet before arrival as added country measure.
The data and imagery from every of those surveys are exhaustively reviewed by engineers and analysts on Earth to be trusty a shuttle is fit to convey home.
Thruster glitch
Tonight, Discovery's six-man, one-woman gathering module also analyse the spacesuits to be used during the threesome excursions designed during the shuttle's instance at the International Space Station. Discovery is delivering a newborn crewmember and a cargo husk crowded with most 15,200 pounds (6,894 kg) of power equipment and fresh supplies.
The shuttle is also delivering a newborn expanse grinder titled after television comedian author Colbert, who won an online NASA enquiry to hit a newborn station room titled after him but got the training equipment instead as a succor prize.
So far, the only flaw that has popped up on Discovery is the unfortunate of digit of digit small forward thrusters on the shuttle's nose. Engineers conceive a drippy render valve caused the unfortunate and closed downbound the increase controlling both thrusters for the continuance of Discovery's 13-day flight. Discovery has sextet of the small thrusters, digit nervy and quaternary aft, and 44 thrusters in all.
The glitch should not effect Discovery's assignment another than requiring astronauts to ingest a bit more propelling during another shuttle interloper firings, as substantially as rely more on Slavonic thrusters on the expanse send for knowledge curb erst both spacecraft are docked, NASA officials said.
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SPACE.com is providing rank programme of Discovery's STS-128 assignment to the International Space Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik in New York. Click here for shuttle mission updates and a unification to NASA TV.
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