NASA Says Space Shuttle Damage Not Serious

NASA had reported seeing debris left behind at the launch pad shortly after the Space Shuttle Atlantis had taken off on Monday. From what they could tell, it was pieces left behind from the fuel tank and questions were raised on whether or not the Shuttle would be safe for a trip back home.

Atlantis astronauts performed a full external inspection of the shuttle and found a 21-inch stretch of marks and nicks on the outside of the shuttle. They believe this was the result of the debris that came off during liftoff on Monday.

NASA official said they weren't very worried as the titles are very thick and the nicks don't go very deep.

NASA has a standby shuttle or rescue shuttle ready to take off in the event that the astronauts can't return home due to debris floating in space hitting the space craft.

Typically, astronauts would be able to dock with the international space station but in this instance, they would not be able to since the space shuttle and the Hubble telescope are in a different orbit than the space station.

"The area is not as critical" as other parts on the shuttle wing, deputy shuttle program manager LeRoy Cain said in a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "The damage itself appears to be relatively shallow and it's not a very large area of damage."

"Again, right now, everybody's feeling pretty good that it's not something particularly serious," Mission Control told the astronauts. "We just want to make sure we do the right thing and complete all the analysis."