Sunday, November 16, 2008

Shuttle Endeavour docks with ISS


Space shuttle Endeavour has docked with the International Space Station [BBC]. Unlike the launch which was carried Live on CNN and BBC, the event achieved scant coverage. There were minor concerns earlier after it was revealed the shuttle lost a small piece of its protective heat shield during take-off. However NASA has said the area affected is not critical to the shuttle's safety. A spokesman said it was "not of great concern". An antenna was also damaged as the spacecraft made its ascent into space, NASA's Leroy Cain said that the problem would affect the mission's ground crew more than the astronauts and that it most likely came from problems with a software upgrade. It was believed the radar and communications problems might affect the docking procedure, however the shuttle docked without a hitch at 17:01 GMT [CNN] .

No comments: