Astronauts confident Discovery good for re-entry

Discovery pilot Mark Kelly floats through the space shuttle's laboratory. Picture / Reuters

HOUSTON - Astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery have voiced confidence in their spacecraft after NASA managers said problems found since last week's launch appeared minor enough to withstand the rigours of a scorching return to Earth.

In an email message to the shuttle crew, they said most blemishes found in post-takeoff inspections did not pose a danger to Discovery and they expected a few lingering safety issues to be declared benign as well.

"With the latest shuttle launch everything seems to be back on track," said Germany's Thomas Reiter, who hitched a ride aboard Discovery to join the International Space Station crew as a third live-aboard member.

As the first station astronaut who is neither American nor Russian, Reiter said during an in-flight news conference that his stay aboard the station marks a transition from what had been a bilateral project to one moving toward true international participation.

Sixteen nations are sponsoring the $US100 billion ($NZ167.7 bn) outpost, which is only half built and will require another 16 space shuttle flights to complete.

Reiter represents the European Space Agency, which is counting on having its Columbus space laboratory module coupled up with the space station after a planned launch next year.

"We are all waiting desperately for the launch of our module," Reiter said.

Space station construction has been on hold since the 2003 disaster involving the shuttle Columbia. The shuttle broke apart as it descended toward Florida on February 1, 2003 because of a hole punched in its wing heat shield at launch by insulating foam that shook loose from the external fuel tank.

Hot gases entered the breach during its fiery descent through the atmosphere, which destroyed the spacecraft and killed the seven astronauts on board.

More foam came loose during Discovery's liftoff on the first post-Columbia flight last summer and on its Fourth of July blastoff last week.

But while analysis of launch video and other data was still underway on Sunday, NASA managers said Discovery's fuel tank performed substantially better than any flown on the shuttle since flights began 25 years ago.

A steady stream of good news about Discovery's condition has given NASA growing confidence that its $US1.3 billion safety upgrade of the shuttles following the Columbia disaster is a success.

Discovery's flight was viewed by many in the US space agency as a make-or-break mission for the troubled shuttle programme, which must complete assembly of the station before the three-ship fleet is retired in 2010.

One lingering concern focuses on a couple of ceramic cloth "gap fillers" sticking out from between heat shield tiles. NASA managers said one has been judged safe and the other was under study but was expected to be cleared on final analysis.

The same was true for minor damage to protective thermal blankets on the spacecraft.

If it turns out there is a significant problem, astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum could attempt to fix it while spacewalking ahead of landing on July 17.

- REUTERS