MMT sees no tile or wing edge damage

While detailed analysis will be complete by Friday, the first look at three tiny flaws in wing leading edges shows they were not damaged during launch.

"The preliminary indication is that there is nothing that anyone is concerned about at all," said John Shannon, chairman of the Mission Management Team.

Additionally, six pieces of falling foam caught on video did not strike the shuttle, and a small piece of ice on a fuel line was filmed falling off at liftoff, as predicted.

"Right now we have no (thermal protection system) issues at all," said Shannon. "The mission is right on track, and things could not be going any better."

NASA has struggled to prevent foam loss from the external tank since the Columbia accident in 2003. That orbiter was lost on re-entry after a hole in the wing caused by a strike from a suitcase-sized piece of foam allowed hot gasses to rip the shuttle apart.

"We're just making (external tanks) better," said Shannon.

Discovery will dock with the International Space Station Thursday at 8:35 a.m. EDT.

Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock will camp out in the airlock Thursday afternoon to rid their bodies of nitrogen to prevent the bends during Friday's spacewalk.

On Friday, during the first of five spacewalks, they will help grapple and move the Harmony module from Discovery's payload bay to a node on the space station.

Shannon said today's inspection of the shuttle revealed a small protruding gapfiller and revealed the loss of an 8-inch by 6-inch divot of foam.

"The last two flights we've seen a divot on almost the same area," said Shannon. "It poses no danger to the orbiter."

Click here: STS-120 fact sheet.