Astronaut Sunita Williams prepared to return home after a record six-month space sojourn but there was concern whether damage caused to the shuttle Atlantis’s body during take-off would pose landing problems.Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station at 1.08 am India time on Monday, and is scheduled to bring back Williams (41) on June 19. Her stay in space is the longest for any woman.The shuttle suffered a 10-cm tear on its thermal blanket and a few pieces of foam fell off during launch on Friday.At the space station, amid greetings and hugs with the 11-member shuttle crew, who arrived at the orbiting outpost, Sunita wrapped up her duty as station crewmember.The timing of her return next Tuesday depends on whether NASA decides to repair the damaged foam cover. The blanket protrusion could lead to damage during the heat of re-entry, deputy shuttle manager John Shannon said.He said the problem would not cause catastrophic damage. But NASA is taking no chances after the Colombia disaster in February 2003, when Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla and six other crewmembers died on entering Earth’s atmosphere. After docking, astronauts also prepared for a walk in space on Monday to add a giant piece to the International Space Station. Crewmembers Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas were to install a 14-metre, 16,183-kg aluminium structure that will be part of the station’s exterior backbone.
