Endeavour docks with international space station; gouge found on shuttle belly

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA discovered a worrisome gouge on Endeavour's belly soon after the shuttle docked with the international space station Friday, possibly caused by ice that broke off the fuel tank a minute after liftoff.

The gouge -- about 3 inches square -- was spotted in zoom-in photography taken by the space station crew.

On Sunday, the astronauts will inspect the area, using Endeavour's 100-foot robot arm and extension beam. Lasers on the end of the beam will gauge the exact size and depth of the gouge, Shannon said, and then engineering analyses will determine whether the damage is severe enough to warrant repairs.

If the gouge is deemed serious and cannot be fixed, the shuttle astronauts would have to remain at the space station. They have more than two months of supplies with them, and a rescue shuttle could be launched by early October, said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team.

The astronauts have three methods for repairing tile damage, if necessary: They could apply black paint, screw on a protective plate, or squirt in goo.

Radar images show a white spray or streak coming off Endeavour 58 seconds after liftoff. Engineers theorize that if the debris was ice, it pierced the tile and then broke up, scraping the area downwind.

Even though it was an extremely hot day in Florida when Endeavour lifted off, the fuel tank was loaded with super-cold fuel, which could have allowed dangerously big chunks of ice to form on its surface.