Space shuttle Discovery's seven astronauts conducted a detailed inspection of the spacecraft Wednesday, focusing on three wing panels to make sure that possible cracks spotted beneath the shuttle's protective coating had not worsened. The inspection cam on the first full day of what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) considers to be the most complicated international space station construction mission yet. The shuttle is scheduled to dock at the station Thursday. Discovery commander Pamela Melroy and her crew used a laser and camera-tipped inspection arm to check the shuttle's wings and nose. The procedure is standard since a strike by a piece of fuel-tank foam created a hole in Columbia's wing in 2003, causing the shuttle to disintegrate while re-entering Earth's atmosphere. As the inspections were being concluded, NASA engineers said that they had not seen any problems of significance. However, images will be examined in close detail over the next few days by experts on the ground, they said. At least six pieces of foam insulation came off Discovery's fuel tank during Tuesday's launch, but the debris posed no risk to the shuttle because it fell off after the crucial first two minutes of liftoff, officials said.
