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Foam Issue Puts Future Shuttle Flights on Hold

NASA officials are once again forced to put future shuttle flights on hold. Foam blamed for causing fatal damage to Columbia also broke away from Discovery's external fuel tank two minutes after liftoff Tuesday. NASA says this time there's no evidence the breakaway foam hit the shuttle.

The Space Shuttle Discovery docked with the international space station Thursday morning. Just before, the astronauts piloted the craft into a backflip so they could photograph the shuttle's underbelly for signs of damage.

The shuttle is scheduled to stay at the space station for one week and return to home on Aug. 7.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jon Hamilton is a correspondent for NPR's Science Desk. Currently he focuses on neuroscience and health risks.