So far, Discovery is looking good

Space shuttle Discovery’s heat shield looks to be in good health so far, NASA managers said Sunday, although it will be at least two days before engineers can rule out any possible damage from the program’s first night launch in four years.

“So far so good,” said lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci as Discovery’s astronauts wrapped up a meticulous inspection of the shuttle, looking for any possible damage from liftoff.

As expected, small pieces of foam debris and ice fell off Discovery’s external fuel tank during Saturday night’s launch, but they didn’t appear to strike the shuttle, said John P. Shannon, deputy shuttle program manager.

Because Discovery was launched in the dark, NASA technicians weren’t able to capture the same sharp photos as they did during the last three launches. Still, they took better than expected images from the illumination of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters and engines during the first few minutes of flight. They also relied on radar, although one of three radars failed during the launch.

NASA may have to wait an extra day to look at images taken from the solid rocket boosters. An accident on one of two ships used in recovering the boosters from the ocean postponed the retrieval.

“The team sees nothing of concern at this time,” Shannon said.

The thorough sweep of the shuttle included the wings and nose cap for chips and other damage from foam, a procedure made mandatory after the deadly Columbia accident in 2003.

Discovery fired its engines Sunday to raise its altitude to 216 miles above Earth, nearly level with the International Space Station, where it will dock this afternoon.

Then the real work begins.

The first spacewalk on the 12-day mission will involve installing an $11-million addition to the space lab, while the second and third will be for rewiring the station from its temporary power system to the permanent one. The solar power arrays that were brought up during the last mission will be used for the first time after that reconfiguration is complete.