Atlantis astronauts sped through a late-mission heat shield inspection today, completing the work in under four hours at 8:17 a.m. EDT. Following standard post-Columbia procedures, the crew used laser sensors and cameras at the end of a robotic arm boom to survey reinforced carbon-carbon panels covering the orbiter's wing leading edges and nose cap -- areas that will experience temperatures near 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the atmospheric re-entry planned Wednesday morning.
The process started early and went smoothly, with no repeats of the snagged pan-and-tilt assembly that slowed and limited an inspection early in the 13-day mission.
"Atlantis, great job on the nose cap, and all of the procedures today," a mission controller radioed from Houston when the middle portion of the survey was complete. "You guys were very efficient."
"Why, thank you," an astronaut replied.
Images from the inspection will be analyzed over the next 24 to 27 hours to determine if there are any concerns about the heat shields' readiness for re-entry.
After stowing the 50-foot boom on the right edge of the payload bay and 50-foot robotic arm on the left edge, the crew will be mostly complete with the day's scheduled work.
In other activity, spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Mike Good have been cleaning and packing the spacesuits that were used during three spacewalks outside the International Space Station.
The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 4:20 p.m. and awake for their final full day in space at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Two press briefings are coming up at 10 a.m. and noon that you can watch live here -- a mission status briefing followed by a Mission Management Team briefing. Click on the NASA TV box at right to launch a viewer.
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