by yaska77
At 04:30 ET (08:30 GMT/09:30 BST) Endeavour’s crew finished a focused inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield, after thermal tile damage was spotted when the orbiter performed it’s “back-flip” manoeuvre on approach to docking on Wednesday.
Endeavour during "back-flip" manoeuvre (Click to supersize) - Credit: NASA
This “focused inspection” took three up-close images of the damaged tile and two data-takes using the laser on the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, giving a three-dimensional understanding of the damage area.
The data gathered will be closely compared to similar damage seen on STS-118 which was eventually cleared for re-entry with no repairs needed, and at present it is expected this newly gathered imagery will allow the MMT (Mission Management Team) to clear Endeavour in much the same way.
Filed under: Image gallery, NASA, yaska77 Tagged: boom, close-up, damage, Endeavour, focused, heat, imaging, inspection, management, mission, MMT, NASA, orbiter, photography, postaweek2011, sensor, shield, STS-118, STS-134, system, team, thermal, tile
