Safe Landing For Endeavour

6 Of 7 Astronauts Immediately Climbed Out And Inspected Shuttle Vehicle & Its Gouged Tiles

(CBS/AP)  Space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth safely Tuesday, ending a nearly two-week orbital drama that centered on a deep gouge in the shuttle's belly and an early homecoming prompted by a hurricane.

The gouge looks only slightly worse than it did in orbit, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief. The exposed felt material, the last barrier before the shuttle's aluminum frame, did not char, he said.

"The teams will pop these tiles off, we'll take a look at the underlying material to make sure that there's no damage, there's nothing going on," "Gerstenmaier said

The 3½-inch-long gouge to Endeavour's protective tiles caused by falling debris during liftoff was the main concern for much of Endeavour's mission.

The shuttle swooped out of the partly cloudy sky and touched down on the runway at 12:32 p.m. as the astronauts' families cheered.

"Congratulations. Welcome home. You've given a new meaning to higher education," Mission Control told the crew, which included former teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan. Morgan had been Christa McAuliffe's backup for the doomed 1986 Challenger flight.

NASA officials quickly gathered under Endeavour, still parked on the runway, pointing and gazing up at the gouged tiles. At the same time, cameras focused on the damage, offering detailed close-up views.

Six of the seven astronauts climbed out and inspected their ship, but Morgan did not emerge from the crew transport vehicle.

Morgan, still wobbly from the effects of gravity, was unable to stand and walk outside in the heat. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin reported she was doing fine, but feeling "just a little bit under the weather."

Over the past few days and right up until landing, NASA had stressed that the in Endeavour's belly would not endanger the shuttle during its landing, but it did not want the shuttle to suffer any structural damage that might require lengthy repairs.

Repairing the damage involved a lot of unknowns. "They've never done anything like that," reports CBS News Space Consultant Bill Harwood. "The risk was greater than simply returning as is."

There was zero chance of a Columbia-style disaster this time, NASA managers insisted, although they acknowledged re-entry was always risky. In 2003, a chunk of fly-away foam had damaged the shuttle Columbia's wing, allowing hot gases to seep in during the re-entry and tear the shuttle apart.

The much smaller damaged area on Endeavour was also subjected to 2,000-degree temperatures during the hottest part of atmospheric re-entry, but engineers were convinced after a week of thermal analyses and tests that the spacecraft would hold up.

With its pilots reporting no problems, Endeavour zoomed over the South Pacific, crossed Central America and Cuba, then headed up the Florida peninsula into Kennedy Space Center. Its trip spanned 13 days and 5.3 million miles.

The shuttle wasn't supposed to return until Wednesday, but mission managers decided to cut its space station visit short because of Hurricane Dean. At the time, NASA was uncertain if Dean would veer toward Texas and threaten Houston, home to Mission Control. Even though forecasters later put Houston out of harm's way, NASA held to a Tuesday landing.

A half hour after landing, Mission Control jokingly asked commander Scott Kelly if he wanted to turn the shuttle around and "set up for another quick one."

"Give us the weekend off and maybe next Monday," Kelly replied.

[singnrick]

I wish they had all died, as a punishment from God. God put man on Earth not on spaceships. To attempt to abandon earth is a sin against God''s will and NASA is run by those who worship Satan''s power over them.

[goldesprit]

"There was zero chance of a Columbia-style disaster this time, NASA managers insisted,..."

Read "Riding Rockets"
By Astronaut Mike Mullaine
a very cool book!!!

ZERO???

[jowand]

rumour is that the usa now has a weapon
which can totally annhilate 13 trillion cubic
parsecs of space in a nanosecond. they call
it a tool of diplomacy. forward ho? or
right back we started from.
Posted by snidegrass at 07:42 PM : Aug 21, 2007

YUP they are going to launch Michael Moore, Jack Murtha, Bill Maher, Tim Russert and the Clinton''s. That''s enough to pollute the whole galaxy.

[jowand]

I''''d rather face down 1000 9-11''''s then surrender anymore rights or freedoms to the chimp and his fascists want-to-be''''s. Besides, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror and it never did. Only idiots still think that there is some sort of connection.
Posted by SgtRDS at 03:27 PM : Aug 21, 2007


Yo didn''t have to face down 911, you just watched it one TV. Looks like Bush made a monkey out of you, that''s a distinct improvement on the evolutionary ladder for you

[jowand]

The Columbia destruction could and should have been avoided, lets hope that they can keep these flying a few more years to make up for Reagan''''s delays.
Posted by sjc_1 at 07:04 PM : Aug 21, 2007

Sorry the Challenger disaater started much earlier when Teddy Kennedy was the hatchet man after the Apollo program finished trashing money for space wanting more welfare dollars. A democratic congress cut the money off and made NASA try and do things on the cheap, with disasterous results.

[tnt1954]

the malevolent applications of science outweigh
the benevolent applications of science.
common sense tells you that. this is why
the library at alexandria was destroyed.
genghis khan''s of space are now being born.
rumour is that the usa now has a weapon
which can totally annhilate 13 trillion cubic
parsecs of space in a nanosecond. they call
it a tool of diplomacy. forward ho? or
right back we started from.

[sjc_1]

Well, they guessed right on the heat tile, thank goodness. I love the space program and it made me angry that Reagan kept putting off the space station with redesigns and his pressure led to the Challenger disaster. The Columbia destruction could and should have been avoided, lets hope that they can keep these flying a few more years to make up for Reagan''s delays.

[asor1-2009]

Congratulations Endeavour Crew! You are respected and admired.

[entity2006]

You can tell I had a few drinks, I can''t spell astro, anyway welcome home guys, your sure got a lot of faith in the people on the ground. Sure, go ahead and land with a hole in the heat shield. Just goes to show you this a lot of hype.
Maybe I am just jealous, I was hoping one day that could have been me. They don''t let idiots fiy in space. Just fellow drunks.

[entity2006]

Astodrunks are home! Bars open!!!! Just in time for happy hour!

[sgtrds]

fine, then you have nothing to complain about if the next 911 happens in your town.

Posted by mcapek at 02:26 PM : Aug 21, 2007

I''d rather face down 1000 9-11''s then surrender anymore rights or freedoms to the chimp and his fascists want-to-be''s. Besides, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror and it never did. Only idiots still think that there is some sort of connection.

Watching the shuttle land is about exciting as sitting at the airport staring out the window

[ckcool192001]

mcapek: do you ever stop and think that some of the research that the space program has yeilded has provided us with the technology to build better weapons, not to mention the satelites that are required to guide the tomahawk missles.

I agree with SgtRDS in that spending billions in Iraq every day is crazy. Iraq is a country that we liberated from a dictator, however now the new government in Iraq refuses to move foward in establishing a stable government. Iraq went from removing a dictator to an all out civil war that the US now finds itself in. Yes we are fighting Al Queda in Iraq, but Al Queda only appeared after the US invaded Iraq. Let me be clear, the decision to invade Iraq was not, and I repeat not a part of the war on terrorism. To believe otherwise is to say that intellegence gathered under the Bush administration regarding Al Queda is wrong. Bush took our troops into Iraq simply to finish the job that his Dad couldn''t. Face it, Bush lied to the American public.

[mcapek]

"wasting money on war it pure ignorance"

fine, then you have nothing to complain about if the next 911 happens in your town.

[rushlimpdrug]

IT''''S BUSH FAULT!
Posted by mudrose

It''s your choice to hate bush.
Too bad you have to be a bitter American and tell the world in every news story how you feel.

[sgtrds]

Posted by gliderguy52 at 12:12 PM : Aug 21, 2007

Couldn''t agree more. Spending money on space is a wise investment, whereas wasting money on war it pure ignorance.

[bareemperor]

Congratulations, Endeavour!

[mudrose-2009]

IT''S BUSH FAULT!

[ckcool192001]

jh6379 in addition to what the below person wrote consider this....space exploration thus satelites have allowed you to post your comment on CBS''s site. Take away all the technology that we have today that came from the space shuttle and their work in space and you''ll be left with very little.

[michellem99-2009]

I was made fun of as a girl for my interest in flying things...As a legally blind person.I use talking clocks,,the microwave to heat the food I eat,CD,DVD,the computer.I have more power on computer then they had to fly Apollo. So yes the space programme has benefited me. I had a feel years ago but did not know it. I kept hoping women would fly and they do. That is higher education.Welcone home. gliderguy52 well said.