STS-128 Heat Shield Cleared for Re-entry
This report from SpaceFlightNow.com
The Discovery astronauts packed up Wednesday and geared up to test the shuttle’s re-entry systems in preparation for landing Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center, weather permitting, to close out a successful space station resupply mission.
2317 GMT (7:17 p.m. EDT)
Yesterday’s inspections of Discovery’s wing leading edges and nose cap have cleared the space shuttle’s heat shield for re-entry. The crew performed the inspections to look for any space debris impacts that could have occurred during the flight.
For the latest reports, NASA TV and status updates visit the STS-128 status page:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts128/status.html
A piece of debris was seen floating away from the shuttle at a fair pace. Investigations continuing. NASA cannot define the object, but confirm that it is not part of the thermal protection system.
