Nasa looks into shuttle 'debris'

NASA examining video of debris spotted during liftoff
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida -- Discovery roared into the skies over Florida Tuesday morning as NASA returned to shuttle space flight for the first time since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

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Under a blue sky, the spacecraft lifted off at 10:39 a.m. ET, as scheduled.

"Liftoff of space shuttle Discovery, beginning America's new journey to the moon, Mars and beyond," said George Diller, the voice of shuttle launch control.

The launch followed days of troubleshooting to fix a faulty fuel sensor in its external tank that led to cancellation of a planned launch on July 13.

But video of what appeared to be some kind of debris falling off Discovery during launch prompted questions that NASA officials said they couldn't immediately answer.

The NASA video showed the unidentified debris falling and not appearing to hit Discovery. Falling debris that struck the craft during liftoff was blamed for the eventual destruction of Columbia as it re-entered the atmosphere in February 2003.

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Since then, NASA has taken steps to minimize the amount and size of debris falling off the shuttle's exterior tank during its ascent. But the space agency has said it's impossible to eliminate falling launch debris. NASA experts said they will analyze liftoff video frame by frame in the coming days.

In a departure from previous shuttle liftoffs, 107 ground and aircraft cameras scrutinized this one to observe possible damage to Discovery from falling debris.

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By Sunday, the mission management team will have enough information from the cameras to know whether Discovery is in safe enough condition to return to Earth, a NASA spokesman said before the debris video was released.

In February 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry. Investigators blamed debris hitting the spacecraft during liftoff for damage that led to the disaster. All seven Columbia crew members were killed.

During a post-launch news conference, top NASA officials praised the liftoff.

"It was a very, very clean countdown," shuttle launch director Michael Leinbach, who watched the liftoff from the space center's control room, told reporters. "The mood was just giddy. People were slapping each other on the back."

"My heart has been in my throat all morning," said deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. "It's been a great day."

During its first eight minutes aloft, Discovery accelerated to more than 17,000 mph in its journey to rendezvous with the international space station, the outpost orbiting 250 miles above Earth.

It jettisoned its solid fuel rocket boosters and its external liquid fuel tank before settling into orbit.

Commander Eileen Collins described the ascent as smooth and the crew feeling great.

"I couldn't ask for a better flight," Collins said from space.

The countdown to launch appeared to go smoothly. NASA said there was no sign of the fuel sensor problem that prompted controllers to scrub the mission's first liftoff attempt.

The space agency said it had tightened the electrical grounding on the fuel gauge sensors and made other adjustments.

If the sensor trouble had resurfaced Tuesday, NASA officials said they were considering waiving safety rules and launching regardless, because of the re-wiring and the redundancy of the system's backup sensors.

About three hours before liftoff, Discovery's seven crew members were strapped into their seats.

Collins was the first to board, giving a confident wave to NASA cameras before entering the cockpit.

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi displayed signs that said: "Get out of quarantine free" and "OUT TO LAUNCH."

"Take note of what you saw here today. The power and the majesty of the launch, of course, but also the competence and the professionalism, the sheer gall, the pluckiness, the grittiness of this team that pulled this program out of the depths of despair 2 1/2 years ago and made it fly," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told a press conference following the launch.

Among the dignitaries at the space center who witnessed the launch were first lady Laura Bush and her brother-in-law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

President Bush watched the launch from his private dining room next to the Oval Office, according to a White House spokesman.

"Our space program is a source of great national pride, and this flight is an essential step toward our goal of continuing to lead the world in space science, human space flight and space exploration," Bush said in a statement.

About 10 miles from the launch pad, scores of people who had camped out overnight along the Banana River watched the liftoff. Parked vehicles jammed state Route 528.

"That's the best thing I've seen in forever," said Darrell Pearce, 34, of Nashville, Tennessee. "Yesterday was my birthday and so it was a hell of a birthday present."

"When I saw it I was like, 'I can't believe I was a part of this event,.'" said Tammy Smith, 23, of Morgan City, Louisiana. "I am just overwhelmed right now."

Discovery's crew is scheduled to test a battery of tools and techniques that NASA engineers developed after the loss of Columbia to inspect the spacecraft's heat-resistant exterior tiles for any damage that might occur during liftoff.

On Wednesday, the crew will survey the wings and nose cap using a new orbital boom sensor system -- a 50-foot robotic arm tipped with cameras and other instruments and mounted in the shuttle's payload bay.

Discovery's mission takes it to the space station on Thursday to deliver supplies and conduct repairs.