[McGruff]

During a mission status news conference yesterday, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain was asked about any possible damage to the shuttle's thermal tiles during launch. The tiles are what protect the shuttle during the fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Tracking video of launch shows what appears to be a piece of foam insulation from the shuttle's external tank falling away during ascent and hitting the shuttle's left wing near its leading edge.

But Cain said engineers "took a very thorough look at the situation with the tile on the left wing and we have no concerns whatsoever. We haven't changed anything with respect to our trajectory design. It will be a nominal, standard trajectory."

[geege]

NASA needs to retire the Shuttle........God Bless

[bonesmccoy]

You can't change a trajectory... you have to go with whatever you have... if the wing was damaged, then you wouldn't see the effects of that damage until the vehicle uses the aerodynamic surfaces...

shuttle starts using the wings as it starts to bleed energy at high altitude.