Atlantis Gets Ready for First Heat Shield Inspection

The four astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis will soon start preparing for conducting the first heat shield inspection of the STS-135 mission. Videos analyzed by engineering teams on the ground have thus far revealed no reasons to worry about its integrity.

Wake-up is scheduled for 3:59 am EDT (0759 GMT), and the crew will then begin to prepare the 15-meter (50-foot) pole that shuttle astronauts use to scan the heat shield. The Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) is laden with sensors and video cameras.

The shuttle's robotic arm will take the OBSS out of the cargo bay, and then move it beneath the spacecraft's nose, wings and underbelly. The system will collect a large number of high-resolution images of all heat shield tiles.

After this process is completed, the crew will relay the data back to Earth, where NASA engineers will browse over it, trying to discover any sort of anomaly that may exist, or any type of damage that may have occurred during launch.

The scan is scheduled to begin at 8:19 am EDT (1219 GMT), and will go on for a few hours. Heat shield inspections are a standard safety procedure that the American space agency introduced after the 2003 disaster that involved the shuttle Columbia.

Atlantis launched to the International Space Station (ISS) at 11:29 am EDT (1529 GMT) on Friday, July 8. The orbiter blasted off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida.

The shuttle is expected to slowly reduce the distance that separates it from the $100 billion space lab until finally catching up with it on Sunday, July 10. In total, the orbiter will spend 12 days in space, which means that it will return to Earth on Wednesday, June 20, Space reports.

The orbiter is carrying about 9,500 pounds (4,318 kilograms) of spare parts and supplies, which should last the ISS at least for another year. Personal items for the Expedition 28 crew are also included, as are food and water supplies.

STS-135 is the last mission of the American Space Shuttle Program (SSP), which will conclude at the end of this month after more than 30 years of continuous activity. Atlantis' twin spacecraft, Discovery and Endeavour, are already being decommissioned.

Discovery is destined to be permanently displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC, while Endeavour will be showcased at the California Science Center, in Los Angeles. Atlantis will be displayed at the KSC Visitor Center.