Arc-jet tests showed further damage to a portion of the damaged tile, while the aluminum skin of the shuttle did not get hot enough to be damaged.
NASA mission managers cleared Endeavour and its seven astronauts for landing next week, saying test results show gouged tiles on the underside of the orbiter will not jeopardize crew safety.
What's more, NASA's Mission Management Team said the orbiter will not suffer significant damage during atmospheric reentry -- an environment in which the damaged tiles will be exposed to temperatures exceeding 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit.
"I am 100 percent comfortable that the work that has been done has accurately characterized (the situation) and that we will have a very successful reentry," said NASA deputy shuttle program manager John Shannon, who serves as chairman of the agency's Mission Management Team.
"I'm also 100 percent confident that if we would have gotten a different answer, and found out that this was something that was going to endanger the lives the crew, that we had the capability onboard to go and repair it and then have a successful entry."
NASA had considered sending spacewalkers to do repair work on the gouged tiles. Shannon said managers ultimately decided that the work wasn't necessary.
Check out the full story in the Friday editions of Florida Today.
Endeavour and its crew are scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 12:48 p.m. EDT next Wednesday.
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