The Discovery space shuttle has been cleared for re-entry to Earth next week after Nasa officials gave its heat shield a clean bill of health. The shuttle is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Centre on 17 July after one last check that it has not been hit by small meteorites.
The space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a two-day trip from Earth.
It arrived at the orbital outpost at 14:52 GMT (10:52 EDT ) carrying equipment, supplies and a fresh astronaut. The spacecraft performed a "backflip" before docking to enable the ISS crew to inspect the ceramic tiles on the ship's under-belly. These tiles form part of the shuttle's heatshield, vital for protecting the craft on its fiery descent to Earth. Commander Steve Lindsey took manual control of Discovery about 300 metres from the space station. He performed the back flip about 180 metres below the station, so that station crew members Pavel Vinogradov, a Russian, and Jeff Williams, an American, could take pictures of its belly. The nine-minute, 360-degree manoeuvre is among several measures Nasa has taken to increase safety since the Columbia disaster in 2003.