Endeavour astronauts have begun a robotic survey of the orbiter's critical heat shields to make sure they are ready for Sunday's planned re-entry through Earth's atmosphere. Using a 50-foot boom equipped with lasers and cameras attached to the end of the shuttle robotic arm, the astronauts will scan the reinforced carbon-carbon wing leading edges and nose cap -- areas subjected to the most intense heat during re-entry, approaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The survey begins with the right wing, moves to the nose cap and ends with the left wing.
Mission commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts and mission specialists Kay Hire, Nick Patrick and Steve Robinson will work in groups of three on different parts of the inspection. A similar survey conducted on the mission's second day, checking for launch damage, found three issues determined not to be dangerous: a protruding ceramic tile near one of Endeavour's cockpit windows, a metal alloy seal sticking up out of the ship's left wing and a cracked tile on the cockpit roof.
Today's "late" inspection will attempt to confirm that micrometeoroids or space junk didn't ding the orbiter while it was docked to the International Space Station for nearly 10 days.
Endeavour undocked from the station at 7:54 p.m. EST Friday.
The shuttle's first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center is at 10:16 p.m. Sunday, but the weather could be challenging. Meteorologists are monitoring a 20 percent chance of showers Sunday and Monday nights.
NASA managers will discuss landing plans in several briefings over the next 24 hours. The next one is coming up at 1:30 a.m.
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