After the successful launch of the Atlantis space shuttle carrying supplements for the space station, four Atlantis astronauts will inspect the shuttle’s heat shields to make sure they were not damaged during the blastoff from Kennedy Space center. Mission Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialist Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim awoke with a Good Morning message from the Kennedy Space station.
Atlantis cruised into outer space successfully, although the countdown was stopped at 31 seconds to ensure the Beanie cap vent arm was properly retracted. The Crew will implement a standard procedure to scan the reinforced carbon-carbon panels laid along the wings of Atlantis and its nose cap, especially areas that may be subjected to intense heat during Earth entry. This procedure is the lesson learnt from the Columbia Accident.
The safety scanning is scheduled to commence at around 8:15 a.m EDT starting at the starboard wing and then moving to the nose cap and wrapping up with the port wing.
Atlantis will prepare to dock at the International Space station with Ferguson, Hurley and Magnus operating the Flight deck. Imagery of the silica tiles lining the underside will be shot in HD by the station crew when Atlantis docks at the Space station.
The images will then be analyzed in Houston for possible damage to silica tiles, while also requesting detailed inspection of certain areas. The crew received information that during the blast off there was no major debris strikes. Before Atlantis makes its descent to Earth another final inspection will be done with the help of Boom sensor systems.
All necessary actions and procedures are being taken by Officials to ensure the safe landing of Atlantis after the very busy 12 days in space.
