NASA Clears Atlantis For Thursday Landing

NASA has completed a second inspection of the heat shield on Atlantis and has cleared the craft for a Thursday landing. No damage was detected, despite the mystery objects that the crew spotted.

Atlantis' six astronauts completed two inspections of the space shuttle Wednesday to make sure it wasn't damaged from the mysterious objects found floating outside the spacecraft. Landing was set for Thursday morning, a day later than originally scheduled.

"Nothing was found to be missing or damaged," said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program manager. "So we feel very confident that we're in for a very good landing opportunity."

Hale said the crew would be well-rested for Thursday's landing, despite the extra, improvised work using cameras and sensors at the end of the shuttle's robotic arm and a 50-foot boom.

"It was a long day, especially for Fergie and Dan," Atlantis commander Brent Jett radioed Mission Control, referring to pilot Chris Ferguson and astronaut Dan Burbank, who operated the robotic arm. "But you do what you need to do. … We understand everybody's doing the right thing, so we're happy to do what it takes."

The decision to delay landing Atlantis on Wednesday was made a day earlier when a shuttle camera spotted an unknown object drifting away shortly after landing systems were put through a normal but bumpy trial run.

NASA officials said their best guess was that the object was a plastic filler placed in between thermal tiles which protect the shuttle from blasting heat. A second mystery object was spotted several hours later, midday Tuesday, by Burbank. But NASA said it appeared to be a garbage bag, which would unlikely be a damage risk.

The first window is at 6:21 am on Thursday. NASA shuttle page here.