Nearing space station, Endeavour crew checks heat shield

Reuters: Nearing space station, Endeavour crew checks heat shield
(Reuters) - Shuttle Endeavour closed in on the International Space Station on Tuesday while astronauts checked the ship's heat shield for any damage from Monday's launch.

Endeavour, which is making its 25th and final spaceflight, is due to arrive at the orbital outpost at 6:16 a.m. EDT Wednesday. It carries a $2 billion particle physics experiment and a pallet of spare parts for the station.

"Endeavour is performing absolutely flawlessly," flight director Gary Horlacher told reporters Tuesday.

The launch had been delayed two weeks by a faulty heater in one of the ship's onboard power generators.

The six-man crew, led by four-time veteran Mark Kelly, spent their first full day in orbit using a sensor-studded boom on the shuttle's 50-foot-long robot arm to scan Endeavour's heat shield for damage.

The routine inspection was added after the 2003 Columbia explosion, which was traced to wing damage from a debris impact during launch. The shuttle broke apart as it flew through the atmosphere for landing, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

In addition to delivering the station's premier science instrument and critical spare parts, Endeavour's crew will make four spacewalks and tackle other maintenance jobs needed to get the station ready for operations after the shuttle program ends.

NASA plans a final shuttle mission to the station in July to deliver a year's worth of supplies.

NASA is retiring its three-ship fleet due to high operating costs and to develop new spaceships that can travel to other destinations beyond the station's 220-mile-high orbit.

Endeavour is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 1.