Avi Blizovsky
Pictured are (left to right) John Phillips (Space Station Astronaut), and Discovery crew members Steve Robinson, Soichi Noguchi and Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins at a press conference broadcast from the Space Station.
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08: 15 Update
NASA is considering sending an astronaut out to the underside of the space shuttle to sand down two areas where the filler between the tiles sticks out. This is so that the aerodynamics of the shuttle will not be damaged when returning to Earth.
This is a material made of ceramic texture.
NASA: Discovery is fit for landing and will continue the operation until August 8
00:30
NASA engineers have determined that the Discovery is fit for a safe landing and that the insulation tiles do not pose any safety hazard. This was stated by the deputy director of the shuttle program, Wayne Hale. This despite the fact that the insulation tiles received about two dozen minor hits during the launch.
As mentioned, NASA managers also decided to extend the mission by another day until August 8th so that the astronauts could perform more work, mainly in relation to the maintenance of the International Space Station.
According to him, the decision was made after determining that there was enough food and other supplies for another day at the station. The extra time will be used to deliver more supplies to the station and help with its maintenance.
Those responsible for the space station also commented that such an extension may compensate for the suspension of future flights.
On Sunday, the astronauts were mainly busy unloading the supplies from the Raphael module and preparing for the next spacewalk to be performed tomorrow by Steven Robinson and Souichi Noguchi. The tunnels between Discovery and the space station were closed before the crew goes to bed today in order to reduce pressure on the shuttle. This is in order to allow the spacewalkers to slowly acclimatize to the low pressure in the suits. The walk is expected to start at 13:14 Israel time.
