Shuttle Discovery races toward space station link-up

By Jeff Franks

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shuttle Discovery raced toward a
rendezvous with the International Space Station on Thursday
where it was to drop off a German astronaut for a six-month
stay amid signs of recovery for the troubled U.S. space
program.

The shuttle, which launched on Tuesday from Florida, was
closing in on the space station at a rate of 276 miles per
orbit and was scheduled to link up with the outpost at 10:52
a.m. EDT (1452 GMT).

Before docking, commander Steve Lindsey planned to slowly
flip the shuttle so space station crewmembers Jeff Williams and
Pavel Vinogradov can photograph heat-resistant tiles on
Discovery’s belly that protect it during the scorching return
to Earth.

The photos are part of the ongoing inspection process that
began at Discovery’s launch on Tuesday from Florida and has
turned up no significant damage to the spacecraft.

NASA officials hope the clean bill of health given so far
indicates they have solved the problem of falling foam from
shuttle fuel tanks that caused the Columbia disaster in 2003
and appeared again in the first post-Columbia shuttle flight
last summer.

A few pieces of foam, which insulate the tanks from ice
formation, shook loose from the fuel tank as Discovery ascended
toward space on Tuesday, but they were small in comparison to
the 1.67 pound (756 gram) chunk that broke a hole in Columbia’s
wing heat shield.

“Overall, the tank performance was really outstanding,”
flight director John Shannon told reporters.

Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth because its
broken heat shield allowed fiery gases to enter its structure.
The seven astronauts on board were killed.

Since then, NASA has spent $1.3 billion on safety upgrades
trying to prevent another shuttle disaster, which likely would
bring a premature end to the shuttle program that is scheduled
to keep flying until 2010 so NASA can complete the
half-finished space station.

Work on the $100 billion complex, which is sponsored by 16
nations, has been on hold since the Columbia accident.

Discovery is carrying more than 5,000 pounds (2,272 kg) of
equipment and supplies to the space station. While there,
shuttle astronauts Piers Sellers and Michael Fossum will
perform spacewalks that will include repairs to a transport
system used during station construction.

Discovery, which currently is set to come back on July 16,
also will drop off Germany’s Thomas Reiter, who will join
Williams and Vinogradov on the space station for what is
scheduled to be a 175-day stay.

It will be the first time the station, which flies along at
17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kph) about 225 miles above Earth,
has had a full three-man crew since May 2003. The crew was cut
back to two after the Columbia accident to save on supplies.

Reiter, who previously made a six-month flight on the
Russian Mir space station, also becomes the first resident
station crew member who is neither American or Russian.

NASA hopes to fly a total of 16 shuttle missions before
2010 so it can complete the space station. Europe and Japan
have laboratory modules waiting to be installed that must be
carried to the orbiting outpost by the space shuttle.

(Additional reporting by Irene Klotz)