Mystery Object Delays Atlantis’s Homecoming

An unidentified object seen floating near Atlantis and bad weather expected at the Florida landing site has delayed the shuttle’s homecoming by a day. A NASA spokesman said, "The mission management team has decided to keep Atlantis 24 more hours in orbit."

The first opportunity for a touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center is now 0615 EDT (1015 GMT) on Thursday. The orbiter has enough supplies to last through Saturday.

The object which is still a mystery has been described as small and dark, and coming possibly from the ship's payload bay. Johnson Space Centre spokesman Doug Peterson said, "At this point, we're not willing to hazard a guess,"

Wayne Hale, the space shuttle programme manager was apprehensive and concerned about the innocuous looking object. He said, “The question is: what is it? Is it something benign, or is it something more critical we should pay attention to? We want to make sure we're safe before committing to that critical journey through the atmosphere."

The object was seen by sheer chance just after the crew put the vehicle through a standard pre-landing shakedown to test thrusters, hydraulics and a number of other systems. Hale admitted, “This is just something that by serendipity we found out that we think we ought to go take another look at.”

The crew has been asked to postpone locking down the shuttle's robot arm and stowing the television antenna. These would be required in case additional inspections were needed. However, managers are undecided whether simple camera views, a third heat shield survey or possibly even a spacewalk may be required to address the mystery object.

Wayne Hale said, “We have ruled out nothing and we’ll take the time that it needs to take…We’ll come back and maybe have a little better gelled plan later this afternoon.”

Atlantis is returning from a week-long stay at the International Space Station to install the first new upgrade since the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster. The shuttle delivered new solar arrays and massive trusses to the International Space Station.