With the United States space shuttle Atlantis docking at the International Space Station, astronaut Sunita Pandya-Williams has packed her bags after a six-month long stint in space, the longest ever for a lady astronaut.However, worrying questions remain unanswered about a section of a peeled-back thermal blanket on the shuttle that will bring Sunita and the rest of the Atlantis crew home.
Astronaut Danny Olivas took photographs from inside the shuttle of the area where the thermal blanket had peeled back. The images were sent to Mission Control at NASA for analysis.
NASA engineers are focusing their attention on a gap about 4 inches by 6 inches that was discovered after Friday's launch from the Kennedy Space Center.
Engineers continue to review photographs of the affected area to determine whether it could pose a problem when Atlantis returns to Earth. They are not sure if stitching on the blanket came loose or whether the blanket, covering a pod of engines near the shuttle's tail, was hit by debris during the launch.
NASA is taking no chances after the Columbia disaster in February 2003, when Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla and six other crew members perished. The shuttle disintegrated on re-entry to earth when a protective foam tile shook loose and a hole burned into the shuttle's body.
Image: The image, showing a gap in a thermal blanket on the port side of the shuttle, was taken by astronaut Danny Olivas.
Photograph courtesy: NASA
