Shuttle crew to check heat shield after launch
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Astronauts prepared on Sunday for a lengthy inspection of space shuttle Discovery's heat shield for possible damage following Saturday's night-time launch, the first since space shuttle Columbia's destruction in 2003.
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Discovery's astronauts scanned the space shuttle's heat shield for potential damage, a day after a launch that apparently did not damage the orbiter, NASA said.
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Space shuttle Atlantis headed for Earth on Wednesday as its crew awaited the results of a final heat shield inspection.
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A team of engineers is taking a meticulous look at the hail-damaged fuel tank of NASA's shuttle Atlantis to determine how best to repair its weather-beaten surface for a planned April launch to the International Space Station (ISS).
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By SETH BORENSTEIN HOUSTON - NASA ordered Atlantis' six astronauts to perform a more extensive inspection of the space shuttle using a 50-foot-boom early Wednesday to see if its heat shield was damaged by a mysterious object that apparently floated off the spacecraft.
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Space shuttle Atlantis  astronauts will make another inspection of their spacecraft to  ensure unidentified objects seen flying near the ship were not  pieces of its heat shield or other critical components, NASA  managers said on Tuesday.
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MOFFETT FIELD, CALIF. - The Mars rover Opportunity is set to examine the heat shield that protected the robot as it plunged through the planet&#39;s atmosphere last January.
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HOUSTON -- NASA engineers are conducting a series of tests to determine how best to repair a torn heat-resistant blanket on the space shuttle Atlantis.
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Looking to accomplish the most work in the shortest period of time, NASA managers have decided to test two techniques to repair heat shields during one spacewalk when the space shuttle returns to flight, agency officials said on Friday.
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Nasa astronauts will attempt to fix a thermal blanket that peeled back during the launch of space shuttle Atlantis.
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The Atlantis crew of seven examined the shuttle&#39;s heat shield one last time in preparation for returning to Earth, after a successful two-week mission to the International Space Station.
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The shuttle Discovery crew spent their first day in space on Sunday scouting their ship for heat shield damage that might have occurred during their launch in darkness on Saturday night, the first night-time liftoff since the 2003 Columbia accident.
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By JUAN A. LOZANO HOUSTON - Mission managers on Saturday cleared Atlantis to land next week after concluding the space shuttle's heat shield was safe enough to withstand the intense heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
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HOUSTON  -- Shuttle Atlantis astronauts will take  a closer look at a minor tear in their ship's heat shield on  Sunday after an undisclosed medical issue sidelined plans for a  spacewalk to install Europe's Columbus laboratory on the  International Space Station, NASA officials said.
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Astronauts on shuttle Atlantis  conducted a final inspection of their spacecraft's heat shield  on Monday as they began early preparations for their return to  Earth.
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As space shuttle Atlantis crew members continued their return trip to Earth on Wednesday, they waited for results of a final inspection of the spacecraft to make sure its heat shield was in good shape.
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By SETH BORENSTEIN  HOUSTON - Space became a tad more crowded Monday morning, but the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis prepared to ease that congestion and go home after one last inspection of its critical heat shield.