US: Space shuttle dodges debris on way home to Earth
Fri Sep 11 03:23:13 EST 2009
Thu Sep 10 17:23:13 UTC 2009
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Sept 10 AP - NASA has moved the space shuttle Discovery out of the way of a mystery piece of orbiting junk and is hoping for a scheduled landing on Earth.
The astronauts fired shuttle thrusters about noon on Thursday (0200 AEST Friday) to avoid what Mission Control is calling a "mystery object".
Officials say the debris apparently came off the linked shuttle and international space station during a spacewalk on Saturday. Experts do not know what the piece is.
The shuttle is scheduled to land in Florida at 7.05pm local time on Thursday (0905 AEST Friday) but thunderstorms could keep it in orbit an extra day or two.
If Discovery skips Florida on Thursday, NASA will consider the backup touchdown site in California as early as Friday.
Discovery delivered supplies and spent more than a week at the space station.
