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Journalism of Courage
Shuttle Discovery chased the international space station in orbit on Wednesday as its seven astronauts geared up for a laser inspection of their ship8217;s wings.
It was the first full day of what NASA considers to be the most complicated space station construction mission yet. The shuttle was to reach the station on Thursday.
NASA8217;s space operations chief, Bill Gerstenmaier, said after Tuesday8217;s liftoff that the astronauts face a tremendous series of challenges, but noted, 8220;I can8217;t think of a better start to this mission than what we got today.8221; It was the third on-time shuttle launch in a row.
At least six pieces of foam insulation came off Discovery8217;s fuel tank during liftoff, but because that occurred after the crucial first two minutes, the debris posed no risk to the shuttle, officials said.
8220;It8217;s preliminary only, but it did look like a clean ascent,8221; Mission Control informed Discovery8217;s commander, Pamela Melroy, only the second woman to lead a shuttle crew.
Astronauts woke up early on Wednesday to Lord of the Dance, which begins with the lyrics I danced in the morning when the earth was begun, I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun. Melroy said it was one of her favourites songs and thanked her husband, Doug, for tipping off Mission Control.
