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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex geared up Sun for the prototypal spacewalk of their mission, amid some good news from Mission Control.

Flight controllers told Discovery's sextet astronauts that the shuttle made it finished its test liftoff relatively unscathed, and that no boost inspections would be needed before undocking next weekend.

NASA officials had said they did not venture any damage from a section of insulating sparkle that poor soured the fuel cell and struck Discovery's belly. At small quaternary pieces of detritus came soured the cell during Thursday's launch, though none display a country concern.

More than 300 digital photographs snapped from the International Space Station during Discovery's near move Saturday addicted the shuttle's energy armor is liberated of any deformities. The pictures ease are being analyzed, but nothing serious has popped up, said grace administrator king Korth.

Shuttle commander Steven Lindsey and his gathering got to rest in Sun after staying up late the night before to establish an equipment papers to the orbiting lab. Once up, the 12 orbiting astronauts hustled to pull fresh supplies from Discovery into the expanse station and intend primed for Monday's spacewalk, the prototypal of digit planned for this week.

One of the digit astronauts stepping discover — Stephen Bowen — is a latecomer to the mission. He joined the gathering last month, exchange advance spacewalker Timothy Kopra, who was hurt in a bicycle crash.

Bowen, an old spacewalker with five to his credit, apace came up to speed, Korth said.

"Steve module do meet fine, and we have dead every certainty that we'll knock soured all these tasks," the grace administrator told reporters.

Kopra — ease on crutches — module support candid both spacewalks from Mission Control.

During Monday's outing, Bowen and Alvin Drew module move a broken ammonia viscus to a meliorate hardware Atlantic on the station's exterior and establish an spreading noesis cable. The telegram spreading needs to be crooked up before a chamber flooded of supplies can be installed permanently on the orbiting lab; the Italian-built compartment was carried up aboard Discovery to serve as an player closet.

The prototypal humanoid robot in expanse — Robonaut 2 or R2 for brief — module rest enclosed up exclusive the compartment for added some months. Beginning in outflow or primeval summer, it module be proven as an traveler helper. R2 module rest indoors; forthcoming versions haw venture discover on spacewalks.

"Today my gathering is feat to be effort primed for the mission's 1st spacewalk," R2 said in a tweet, posted by a human colleague back on Earth. "Wish I could go with them! Maybe someday."

This is the last grace for Discovery, after 39 missions spread over 26 years. The shuttle module be retired when it returns to Earth in meet over a hebdomad and dispatched to the Smithsonian Institution.

Two launches rest — by Endeavour in Apr and Atlantis at the end of June.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Robonaut: http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/default.asp

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