spacetoday.net: Shuttle landing delayed by debris concerns

Posted: Tue, Sep 19, 2006, 2:27 PM ET (1827 GMT)

NASA decided Tuesday to delay Wednesday morning's scheduled landing of the shuttle Atlantis a day after shuttle cameras picked up an unidentified object near the shuttle that could potentially be debris from a collision. The "mystery object" was detected early Tuesday by a ground controller operating a camera in the shuttle's payload bay. The object's identify is unknown but it is flying in the same orbit as the shuttle, suggesting that it may be an object that detached from the orbiter in some way, perhaps in a collision with debris. One possibility is that ice may have come loose from part of the shuttle during pre-landing checks. In addition, data suggests something may have collided with the orbiter's right wing. The delay will give shuttle engineers more time to plan additional inspections of the shuttle; previous inspections turned up no signs of damage to the shuttle's tiles and panels. A Wednesday morning landing looked doubtful regardless of any concerns about the shuttle because of poor weather forecast at the Kennedy Space Center landing site. The shuttle has enough supplies to remain in orbit at least through Saturday.