Endeavour space walkers start work
space walkers of the Endeavour checked the wings of the ship and heat shield at International Space Station.
The shuttle crew also has four spacewalks planned to repair the station’s solar power system.
Engineers thought they saw a 12-to-18-inch strip of insulation fly off from the rear of Endeavour, but images relayed by the astronauts on Saturday appeared to show nothing amiss.
The shuttle, which rocketed off its seaside launch pad in Florida on Friday night, was on schedule to slip into a berthing port at the space station at 5:04 p.m. EST (2204 GMT) on Sunday to begin an 11- or 12-day stay.
The shuttle Endeavour crew scanned the ship’s wings and heat shield on Saturday, checking for damage after Friday’s launch as it headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
The inspections, done with a sensor-laden boom attached to the shuttle’s robot arm, have been standard since the 2003 Columbia disaster.
The shuttle carries two new sleeping compartments and a water recycling system so station crew members can purify urine and other wastewater for drinking.
The space station, a $100 billion project of 16 member nations that orbits 220 miles above Earth, has been under construction for 10 years