NASA clears shuttle Atlantis for landing this morning

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2006 | by Traci Watson

NASA engineers cleared space shuttle Atlantis for landing today, concluding after inspections that an object seen drifting near the vehicle and three more pieces of nearby debris were not a worry. The Atlantis crew and flight controllers surveyed the spacecraft with cameras late Tuesday and early Wednesday but found no signs of damage from a collision.

Nor did they find any evidence that the shuttle is missing any major parts, though engineers strongly suspect that the small, dark object first seen Tuesday came off the shuttle. "We are cleared for entry," shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said. "So we feel very good that we're in for a good landing opportunity. Hale said the object, spotted by an engineer in Mission Control, was "most likely" a piece of plastic used to...