February 01, 2003

Here's more on the shuttle's

Here's more on the shuttle's damaged wing:

"We did our normal flight control systems checkout. ... All the systems we use for entry, we had no problems, the vehicle performed flawlessly today as it has the entire mission."

The only issue - and Cain said it was not significant - is a bit of possible tile damage on Columbia's left wing. 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 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."

"Shuttle Columbia to land in Florida on Saturday"