NASA engineers have determined that Discovery can safely return to Earth and that the space shuttle's thermal tiles don't pose a safety hazard, deputy shuttle manager Wayne Hale said Saturday night. Discovery's tiles received two dozen dings during launch, CNN reported. NASA managers have also decided to extend the mission by an extra day -- to August 8 -- so astronauts can do more work, Hale said. He said the decision came after determining there were sufficient "consumables" like food to keep the astronauts aloft. The extra time will allow astronauts to transfer more supplies to the international space station and help with station maintenance. The shuttle docked Thursday.
