Six such scanners were activated before the flight by NASA technicians to make sure all the tiles were in order * In space, the astronauts will continue photographing the heat shield tiles on the first day of the mission - that is, today, if the launch takes place as planned at 01:36
Technicians will remotely use six scanners to look for cracks or other faults in each and every tile covering the space shuttle Endeavour.
Before the scanners arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, pre- and post-flight scans were done manually using a lookout and antiquated instruments. The photo was taken at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, where the scanners were developed, and you can see how a technician uses the new tool to assess the condition of the tiles.
Of course, these scanners do not replace the scans that the astronauts perform on the first day of the mission using photographic equipment to detect breaks or cracks in the tiles if they were caused during the launch.
