Endeavour passes inspection

— -- Endeavour astronauts today are preparing to dock with the International Space Station, after intensive inspections Saturday of the shuttle's heat shields for damage that could have occurred during a moonlit launch from Kennedy Space Center.

The seven-person crew also investigated the possibility that a small strip of white insulating blanket that may have torn away from the upper-left side of the orbiter about 30 seconds after liftoff Friday.

But the close-up images captured using a robotic shuttle arm and boom extension equipped with cameras and laser sensors did not immediately reveal damage.

"There's no apparent damage there in the imagery that we gathered," said Mike Sarafin, the mission's lead flight director. "Our analysts are off assessing it."

Even if the insulation — believed to measure 12- to 18-inches long, four inches wide and a fraction of an inch thick — is lost, managers said it likely would not present a serious problem.

Its location near an engine the shuttle uses to adjust course on orbit is not subjected to the most extreme, 3,000-degree heat that bakes the bottom of the orbiter as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere.

"This is not an area that is of great concern to us," said LeRoy Cain, a senior shuttle program manager.

No other incidents involving potential debris from liftoff were confirmed, Cain said, though mission controllers had initially reported two to the crew.

Endeavour crewmates Eric Boe, Shane Kimbrough and Don Pettit slowly scanned the shuttle's reinforced carbon-carbon wing edges and nose cap — a standard procedure since the loss of shuttle Columbia in 2003.

Heat-resistant tiles protecting the shuttle's belly will be photographed from the International Space Station today when mission commander Chris Ferguson executes an orbital back flip 600 feet beneath the station.

It could be early this week before all the pictures are analyzed and a decision is made to clear Endeavour for landing on Nov. 29 or conduct further surveys.