Houston: Shuttle Discovery chased the international space station in orbit today as its seven astronauts geared up for a laser inspection of their ship's wings.

It was the first full day of what NASA considers to be the most complicated space station construction mission yet. The shuttle was to reach the station tomorrow.

NASA's space operations chief, Bill Gerstenmaier, said after yesterday's liftoff that the astronauts face a tremendous series of challenges, but noted, "I can't think of a better start to this mission than what we got today." It was the third on-time shuttle launch in a row.

At least six pieces of foam insulation came off Discovery's fuel tank during liftoff, but because that occurred after the crucial first two minutes, the debris posed no risk to the shuttle, officials said.

"It's preliminary only, but it did look like a clean ascent," Mission Control informed Discovery's commander,Pamela Melroy, only the second woman to lead a shuttle crew.

Astronauts woke up early today to "Lord of the Dance," which begins with the lyrics "I danced in the morning when the earth was begun, I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun." Melroy said it was one of her favorites songs and thanked her husband, Doug, for tipping off Mission Control.

Melroy and her crew were to use a laser-tipped inspection boom today to check Discovery's vulnerable wings and nose, standard procedure since the Columbia accident.

They will go extra slow, however, for a thorough check of three wing panels that may have cracks just beneath a protective coating.

Source : PTI