CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida) - THE astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex geared up on Sunday for the first spacewalk of their mission, amid some good news from Mission Control.
Flight controllers told Discovery's six astronauts that the shuttle made it through its final liftoff relatively unscathed, and that no further inspections would be needed before undocking next weekend.
Nasa officials had said they did not suspect any damage from a section of insulating foam that broke off the fuel tank and struck Discovery's belly. At least four pieces of debris came off the tank during Thursday's launch, though none posed a safety concern.
More than 300 digital photographs snapped from the International Space Station during Discovery's close approach on Saturday confirmed the shuttle's thermal armour is free of any deformities. The pictures still are being analysed, but nothing serious has popped up, said flight director David Korth.
Shuttle commander Steven Lindsey and his crew got to sleep in Sunday after staying up late the night before to install an equipment platform to the orbiting lab. Once up, the 12 orbiting astronauts hustled to haul fresh supplies from Discovery into the space station and get ready for Monday's spacewalk, the first of two planned for this week.
One of the two astronauts stepping out - Stephen Bowen - is a latecomer to the mission. He joined the crew last month, replacing lead spacewalker Timothy Kopra, who was hurt in a bicycle crash. -- AP
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