Atlantis crew to inspect heat shields

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 9 (UPI) -- The agenda Saturday for the four astronauts on the final U.S. space shuttle mission included inspection of the heat shields on the Atlantis.

The program for the first full day in orbit includes inspection of the heat shields to make sure they were not damaged during liftoff Friday, Florida Today reported. Analysts at National Aeronautics and Space Administration headquarters in Houston reported no obvious damage from a preliminary inspection of images of the blastoff.

Visual inspection of the shields has been standard operating procedure since 2003, when the Columbia broke up on re-entry.

The mission is commanded by Chris Ferguson and piloted by Doug Hurley, joined by specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. They were wakened at 4 a.m. EDT by "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay.

Atlantis blasted off Friday morning from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission's main purpose is to carry a load of supplies to the International Space Station.