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Discovery shuttle looks very clean' so far: NASA HOUSTON, Texas, July 6 (AFP) Jul 07, 2006 The Discovery shuttle looks "very clean" so far, but it is too soon to clear the spacecraft for its return to Earth in 10 to 11 days as analysts are still reviewing images of its heat shield, NASA said Thursday. "It is so clean. The vehicle is doing so well," mission management team chairman John Shannon told reporters at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas after Discovery successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS). The two ISS crew members took more than 350 pictures of the heat shield protecting the shuttle's underbelly while Discovery performed a back flip before docking in just the second flight since the February 2003 Columbia disaster, he said. A preliminary analysis of the pictures showed no damage to the tiles that protect the shuttle during re-entry to Earth, Shannon said. Shannon reiterated that images taken a day earlier by the Discovery crew of the shuttle wings' leading edges and nose cap also showed no damage so far. Analysts were also examining gap filler sticking out from between tiles on a wing leading edge and another protuberance on the back of the shuttle to determine if they needed further inspection, Shannon said. In a historic spacewalk last year, US astronaut Stephen Robinson pulled out two gap fillers protruding from the shuttle's underside to ease worries of overheating during descent in the first flight since the Columbia disaster. "We took a good look at the orbiter and that looks very clean, and all the systems on board are working well," Shannon said. "So, so far just a great flight." But the all-clear for return to Earth will not be given until this weekend, he said. NASA has said the astronauts could take refuge inside the ISS while waiting for a rescue mission if the shuttle suffered irreparable damage. The shuttle launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and its huge external fuel tank shed small pieces of foam insulation as expected. The debris fell off too late to threaten the shuttle, officials said. NASA officials were pleased with the tank's performance, three years after a large piece of foam from the orange-hued reservoir hit the Columbia shuttle during liftoff, piercing its heat shield and dooming its return to Earth.
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