Shuttle Atlantis is about to sweep into the sun-lit side of Earth, opening up an opportunity for its crew to complete an on-again, off-again survey of the ship's vulnerable heat shield.Limited to using a camera that can only be operated in lighted conditions, Atlantis robot arm operators will have a 50-minute opportunity to start and finish a survey of the shuttle's port, or left, wing. The astronauts completed a scan of the starboard wing and the ship's nose cap earlier this afternoon.
A survey of the exterior of the shuttle's crew cabin was postponed after trouble cropped up with the shuttle's prime sensor package, which includes two laser devices and a television camera mounted atop a pan-and-tilt unit. An out-of-place electrical cable is preventing the unit from tilting properly.
A back-up sensor package that is fixed to the shuttle's 50-foot-long extension boom was pressed into service, but its digital camera can only be operated in lighted conditions. So the astronauts have been performing the survey when the shuttle passes onto the sun-lit side of the Earth. The back-up camera does not provide the same level of coverage as the prime sensor package. But it does provide images that are higher in resolution.
The limited survey time dragged out the survey, which had been scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and end around 2:40 p.m.
NASA Lead Flight Director Mike Sarafin said the shuttle crew would have ample opportunity to gather data on the condition of the exterior of the crew cabin. That work could be done after the shuttle docks at the station. About 90 minutes always is set aside on the fifth day of shuttle missions to perform focused inspections, Another option would be to use cameras on the station's robot arm or mobile transporter to get the job done.
No significant damage was detected during the first two-thirds of the survey. The port wing work is the final step for the inspection today.
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