NASA checks Space Shuttle Discovery for damage

NASA checks Space Shuttle Discovery for damage

Now that the Space Shuttle has taken off successfully and reached the orbit, the space organization NASA has begun checking the surface of the spacecraft for any damage occurred during the launch process. NASA is using special cameras to examine the shuttle for damage today. This has become crucial after the space agency noticed falling debris during lift-off of perhaps the most important Shuttle mission for NASA.

It is for the first time in 2.5 years that Space Shuttle took off to space ever since the Columbia disaster and it took quite many delays and massive safety upgrades on the Shuttle before the Discovery was considered safe for the mission. During the launch yesterday, NASA noticed what appeared to be a piece of a tile and another unknown object falling off separately during the first two minutes of the ascent.

Columbia is said to have suffered damage on the outer shell of the Shuttle during its launch, which led to the disastrous ending of the mission with the death of the entire crew on board. NASA would be examining the edges of the wings and the nose cap of the shuttle using a laser scanner at the end of a 15-meter boom extension held in the grip of the shuttle’s robotic arm.

NASA has overall stated that they are quite happy with the way shuttle took off to space. They had more than 100 cameras on the ground and two planes in the air taking close shots of the launch for these tests.