Discovery deemed safe for flight

• Discovery should be able to fly home next week as planned because foam that came loose from an external fuel tank during takeoff didn't cause any major damage, NASA said.
• Engineers examined images of the craft taken as it came in to dock at the International Space Station today, and determined Discovery had escaped the kind of damage Columbia sustained during launch in February 2003.
• A chunk of insulation that fell off had punched a small hole in the wing, which allowed hot atmospheric air to enter as the shuttle returned to Earth two weeks later.
• NASA had planned to have the seven astronauts stay aboard the space station until a mission could be launched to rescue them and had prepared Atlantis for such a voyage.
• ``The initial report was that it looks extremely good and we don't have anything to worry about on Discovery,'' said John Shannon, manager of flight operations and integration.
• Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which have been use to transport astronauts to and from the station since Columbia's destruction, could be used to rescue the crew if necessary.
• President George W. Bush has ordered NASA to retire the shuttles in 2010 after they are used to finish building the space station and then develop a replacement.
• NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. spent two years redesigning the external tank to prevent foam from shedding, and they added heaters to prevent ice from forming.
• New cameras were also installed around the launch site and on the spacecraft to allow engineers to get better views of takeoff.
• ``Given the number of missions flown, the age of the equipment and the technological issues that are at the table, the question is how much reinvestment in solving these problems is appropriate versus a new concept.''