Shuttle Launches, But is Hit by Pieces of Insulation

When Endeavor reaches the ISS, the population of the space station will be at 13, an all time high. The current population includes Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Roman Romanenko, and astronauts Michael Barratt of NASA, Frank De Winne of Belgium, Robert Thirsk of Canada, and Wakata.

However, the shuttle was hit by eight or nine pieces of foam insulation which came off the external fuel tank during liftoff. Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief said that some scuff marks were seen on the belly of the shuttle, but that is probably coating loss and considered minor.

Despite the hits, Mission Control told the astronauts Wednesday night that the damage looked to be less extensive than what occurred on the last shuttle flight. Still, engineers will be examining footage carefully. No chances will be taken after the shuttle Columbia disaster.

Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team said:

"The bottom line is we saw some stuff. Some of it doesn't concern us. Some of it you just can't really speculate on right now. But we have the tools in front of us and the processes in front of us to go clear this vehicle for entry."

Moses was referring to the repair kits now carried on shuttle missions. If absolutely necessary the shuttle crew could stay on the ISS for 2 or 3 months to await rescue by another shuttle.