Space shuttle Endeavour stands ready on launch pad 39A as preparations for it\'s launch are finalized at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. Endeavour, with a crew of six astronauts is set to launch early Sunday to the International Space Station.(AP Photo/John Raoux)
Space shuttle Endeavour stands ready on launch pad 39A as preparations for it's launch are finalized at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. Endeavour, with a crew of six astronauts is set to launch early Sunday to the International Space Station.(AP Photo/John Raoux)
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2010-02-09 05:17:11

Astronauts inspect shuttle on way to space station


MARCIA DUNN / AP Aerospace Writer
 
MARCIA DUNN / AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts are inspecting space shuttle Endeavour for launch damage as they race toward a 200-mile high rendezvous with the International Space Station.

The crew was using a 100-foot, laser-tipped boom early Tuesday to check the thermal shielding on the wings and nose.

Some foam insulation broke off the fuel tank during Monday morning's launch, but there was no indication anything hit the shuttle. A foam strike brought down Columbia in 2003.

The five space station residents are excitedly awaiting the crew. In a Twitter update, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi says, "Yeah! Endeavour is on our way!"

Endeavour is delivering a new room to the space station, as well a domed compartment that contains the biggest window ever launched.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)




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