Shuttle links up with station for delivery

[Neoma]

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Atlantis linked up with the international space station on Monday, carrying the first new addition to the space station in almost four years.

The hookup occurred without a hitch at 6:48 a.m. ET, after the shuttle performed a 360-degree back flip that has become part of the inspection routine for missions to the space station. Astronauts aboard the station took photographs of Atlantis from a distance of 600 feet (180 meters), then transmitted the imagery down to NASA engineers, who will look for any damage from liftoff to the shuttle's thermal skin.

NASA implemented that inspection technique, along with another performed Sunday using a 50-foot (15-meter) boom with sensors at the end, in the wake of the Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts in 2003. Foam debris from Columbia's external fuel tank struck a wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate when the shuttle returned to Earth."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14781609/

[Kagemusha]

1. So NASA has to make its shuttles do backflips now.

Somehow feels appropriate.