NASA: Discovery appears safe to return to Earth
{{date|July 28, 2005}}

[[NASA]] has said that preliminary investigations show that ''[[w:Space Shuttle Discovery|Discovery]]'' is safe to fly home. 

Final findings will not be available for several days as a team of 200 experts study all video and stills footage taken of the shuttle during launch, and on approach to the [[International Space Station]] (ISS), with which ''Discovery'' docked earlier today.

Images from new cameras have revealed that a section of [[w:Foam|foam]] weighing some 250&nbsp;g fell away from the [[w:Space shuttle external tank|external fuel tank]] during launch, but did not strike the Orbiter. However, NASA has announced the grounding of all further planned Shuttle launches until they have a firm understanding of why the foam comes away, and what to do about it.

A piece of foam striking the ''[[w:Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s wing during take-off in January 2003 was responsible for the [[w:Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|loss of the craft]] as it made its [[w:Atmospheric reentry|reentry]] to Earth's atmosphere.

As part of the check for damage the crew of ''Discovery'' used a laser-scanner on the robotic arm to inspect the [[Crew of Discovery inspect Shuttle for launch damage|craft's wing leading-edges and nosecone]]. The belly of the Orbiter will be checked later this week.

In a first, the Shuttle also performed a slow back-flip in some 180&nbsp;m from the ISS enabling the two-man crew of the space station to take high-resolution images of the underside of the Orbiter.

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050728/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle;_ylt=An3xwDRV4R7luQeKIKBhHdus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ-- |title=NASA Says Discovery Looks OK to Fly Home |author= |pub=AP |date=July 28, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/news/STS-114-05.html |title=STS-114 MCC Status Report #05 |author= |pub=NASA |date=July 28, 2005}}

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[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:International Space Station]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:NASA]]
NASA has said that preliminary investigations show that Discovery is safe to fly home. 

Final findings will not be available for several days as a team of 200 experts study all video and stills footage taken of the shuttle during launch, and on approach to the International Space Station (ISS), with which Discovery docked earlier today.

Images from new cameras have revealed that a section of foam weighing some 250 g fell away from the external fuel tank during launch, but did not strike the Orbiter. However, NASA has announced the grounding of all further planned Shuttle launches until they have a firm understanding of why the foam comes away, and what to do about it.

A piece of foam striking the Columbias wing during take-off in January 2003 was responsible for the loss of the craft as it made its reentry to Earth's atmosphere.

As part of the check for damage the crew of Discovery used a laser-scanner on the robotic arm to inspect the craft's wing leading-edges and nosecone. The belly of the Orbiter will be checked later this week.

In a first, the Shuttle also performed a slow back-flip in some 180 m from the ISS enabling the two-man crew of the space station to take high-resolution images of the underside of the Orbiter.
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