Atlantis shuttle takes off for international space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – With a 4-inch gap in the space shuttle Atlantis’ heat-protecting blanket not appearing to be a problem on Saturday, the crew readied themselves for what NASA called a delicate ballet with the international space station.\nThen the shuttle entered a weeklong embrace Sunday with the orbital outpost.\nAtlantis’ seven astronauts spent much of Saturday on a mandatory inspection of the shuttle’s delicate heat tiles, outer edges and blankets for problems similar to the kind that caused the fatal Columbia accident in 2003. As of Saturday afternoon, no glaring problems were reported.\nBut late Friday and early Saturday, the crew spent extra time using a robot arm to look at a gap in a thermal blanket on the left side of the shuttle. The gap, about 4 inches, is the result of an unusual fold in the blanket, not a debris hit, which caused Columbia’s fatal problem, NASA spokeswoman Lynette Madison said.\nThe area does not get hotter than 700 degrees Fahrenheit during the shuttle’s return to Earth and is not a place where NASA is usually concerned about potentially fatal problems, she said. Still, engineers were using photos to create a three-dimensional model of the gap just in case.\n“They don’t think it’s much of a concern,” Madison said.\nAs part of the normal day-after-launch tile inspections, astronaut Patrick Forrester used the shuttle’s robot arm and a boom extension to examine its wings and outer edges.\nAtlantis’ crew was given an extra half-hour to sleep Saturday morning, after which they awoke to the song “Big Boy Toys” by Aaron Tippin.\nAtlantis’ seven-man crew was closing the gap between it and the space station by about 800 miles every 90-minute orbit. By 2 p.m. EDT, the shuttle was scheduled to be about 4,000 miles away from its destination. Atlantis was scheduled to dock with the space station Sunday at 3:38 p.m. EDT.\nBefore the docking comes maneuvering that NASA officials often call a delicate ballet, a procedure that has appeared effortless in 20 previous tries, even though it is risky.\n“Two vehicles weighing 230,000 pounds going 17,500 mph, it’s tough stuff,” Mission Management Team leader John Shannon told The Associated Press.\nAtlantis commander Rick Sturckow will move the shuttle until it is 600 feet below the station and then make the shuttle turn a 360-degree backflip in just nine minutes. The last few feet of the docking occur so slowly that Atlantis will get only an inch closer to the station every second.\nOnce the shuttle and station connect, they will stay locked until June 17.\nDuring the 11-day flight, the astronauts will deliver a new segment and a pair of solar panels to the orbiting outpost. They plan three spacewalks – on Monday, Wednesday and Friday – to install the new equipment and retract an old solar panel.\nOn Sunday, astronaut Clayton Anderson will replace astronaut Sunita Williams as the U.S. representative aboard the space station, and Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. She has spent the past six months in orbit.