Atlantis mission specialist Leland Melvin is stowing a sensor-tipped inspection boom in the shuttle's cargo bay after an extensive survey of the ship's composite carbon wings and nosecap.
No obvious major damage was apparent as Melvin and crewmates slowly scanned the starboard wing, the nosecap and finally the portside wing. Pilot Alan Poindexter now will use the shuttle's camera-laden robot arm to inspect two humplike pods that house the ship's twin orbital maneuvering engines.
The 50-foot inspection boom is equipped with a high-resolution camera and two laser sensors that can detect heat-shield damage and determine its severity. Data gathered during the five-hour examination is being beamed down to Mission Control for evaluation by engineering specialists.
The first Mission Status Briefing of the shuttle flight is coming up at the top of the hour. The post-Mission Management Team briefing originally scheduled for 6 p.m. will be folded into the status briefing -- an indication that the flight so far is going very, very smoothly.
You can watch the news briefing and live round-the-clock coverage of the mission here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the image above to launch our NASA TV viewer.
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