Discovery Space Shuttle docks with International Space Station

Space Shuttle Discover has finally docked with the International Space Station. The first space mission for the Shuttle in nearly 2.5 years finally seems to bring some relief to the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). However, not everything is as rosy as it sounds considering NASA has noticed some damage on the outer shell of the shuttle. The shuttle performed an unprecedented back flip before docking to give the cameras onboard the ISS to take cleaner shot of the surface of the shuttle.

These images would now be analyzed by the space organization for any major damage. It is however not clear how long NASA would take to come out with their conclusion on the safety of the shuttle. Commander Eileen Collins had to manually steer the Discovery’s nose up and slowly flipped the spacecraft over for these images.

The crew on board was later greeted by the crew of the International Space Station. Then they were taken on a tour of the ISS. Collins told station Commander Sergei Krikalev on their rendezvous: “We’re looking forward to seeing you guys. Your space station looks absolutely beautiful from the outside.” The crew onboard the ISS had bad news in store for them as NASA has now decided to not proceed with any Space Shuttle mission unless they can sort out the problems with debris damaging the outer shell of the Space Shuttle.

Shuttle program manager Bill Parsons spoke to a media gathering explaining their decision: “We have got to go take a look at this, and we have got to go find a solution to this problem. And we will.”