Space shuttle Discovery is at the International Space Station.
The shuttle docked with the orbiting outpost early Wednesday. An antenna failure knocked out radar tracking aboard Discovery. So the astronauts had to rely on other navigation tools for the 346-km-high rendezvous.
As soon as the hatches open, the shuttle crew will use the station’s equipment to send down detailed laser images of Discovery’s wings and nose. The images were collected on Tuesday, but the antenna breakdown prevented their immediate relay to Mission Control. NASA needs to scrutinise the data to make sure Discovery didn’t suffer launch damage that could jeopardise re-entry in 11 days.
The orbiting crowd includes nine men and a record-setting four women.
