Hunt for damage on Discovery
Source: Agencies |
April 8, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SPACE shuttle Discovery successfully docked at the International Space Station early yesterday, its astronauts overcoming a rare antenna breakdown that knocked out radar tracking.
Shuttle commander Alan Poindexter and his crew relied on other navigation devices to approach the orbiting outpost.
"You guys are looking beautiful," Japanese space station resident Soichi Noguchi radioed as the shuttle drew within 200 meters, loaded down with supplies.
The two spacecraft came together 346 kilometers above the Caribbean, precisely on time.
It was only the second time that a shuttle had to dock with the space station without any radar; the first was 10 years ago.
Flight director Richard Jones said the flying was flawless. "The crew made it look easy," he told reporters.
One of the first matters of business for the 13 astronauts was transmitting detailed laser images of Discovery to Mission Control in Houston.
Astronaut Stephanie Wilson pocketed the computer hard-drive holding all the wing and nose images that were collected on Tuesday, and handed it over as soon as she crossed the station's threshold.
The station crew quickly started sending the files, a lengthy process expected to take all morning. The antenna breakdown prevented their immediate relay to experts on the ground for analysis.
NASA needs to scrutinize the data to make sure Discovery suffered no launch damage that could jeopardize its re-entry on April 18.
On a lighter note, Discovery's arrival also meant that the world finally got to see the seven shuttle astronauts in space.
The failure of Discovery's dish antenna shortly after Monday's liftoff prevented the astronauts from sending and receiving videos.
The orbiting crowd includes a record-setting four women, three of whom arrived on Discovery. There are eight Americans, three Russians and, for the first time together in space, two Japanese.
The two crews embraced and shook hands as they greeted one another.
An hour before the linkup, Poindexter guided Discovery through a slow backflip so the station crew could photograph the shuttle belly, using zoom lenses. More than 360 close-up pictures were hustled down to Mission Control so experts could hunt for any damage.
Shuttle commander Alan Poindexter and his crew relied on other navigation devices to approach the orbiting outpost.
"You guys are looking beautiful," Japanese space station resident Soichi Noguchi radioed as the shuttle drew within 200 meters, loaded down with supplies.
The two spacecraft came together 346 kilometers above the Caribbean, precisely on time.
It was only the second time that a shuttle had to dock with the space station without any radar; the first was 10 years ago.
Flight director Richard Jones said the flying was flawless. "The crew made it look easy," he told reporters.
One of the first matters of business for the 13 astronauts was transmitting detailed laser images of Discovery to Mission Control in Houston.
Astronaut Stephanie Wilson pocketed the computer hard-drive holding all the wing and nose images that were collected on Tuesday, and handed it over as soon as she crossed the station's threshold.
The station crew quickly started sending the files, a lengthy process expected to take all morning. The antenna breakdown prevented their immediate relay to experts on the ground for analysis.
NASA needs to scrutinize the data to make sure Discovery suffered no launch damage that could jeopardize its re-entry on April 18.
On a lighter note, Discovery's arrival also meant that the world finally got to see the seven shuttle astronauts in space.
The failure of Discovery's dish antenna shortly after Monday's liftoff prevented the astronauts from sending and receiving videos.
The orbiting crowd includes a record-setting four women, three of whom arrived on Discovery. There are eight Americans, three Russians and, for the first time together in space, two Japanese.
The two crews embraced and shook hands as they greeted one another.
An hour before the linkup, Poindexter guided Discovery through a slow backflip so the station crew could photograph the shuttle belly, using zoom lenses. More than 360 close-up pictures were hustled down to Mission Control so experts could hunt for any damage.
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