Debris stirs concerns on shuttle safety

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Pieces of Discovery appeared to dislodge yesterday during the first space shuttle launch since Columbia blew up 2 1/2 years ago, and scientists began studying photos to determine whether any of the debris will have an impact on a historic flight NASA hopes will rescue the US manned space program.

Early photos showed an inch-and-a-half piece of tile, or its covering, may have peeled off near the door covering the shuttle's nose landing gear, but NASA managers said late yesterday afternoon that it was too early to tell whether the debris had compromised the shuttle's safety. Debris falls off during every shuttle launch, although the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has worked to minimize it on Discovery. The falling debris was more apparent this time because more than 100 cameras were trained on Discovery during liftoff and the early part of the flight.

Another piece of debris also appeared to fall off the external fuel tank, according to video footage, but did not strike anything. The shuttle also struck a bird less than three seconds into the flight.

Insulating foam that fell off Columbia during liftoff pierced its heat-shielding skin, later allowing hot gases into the shuttle during reentry. All seven astronauts died in the ensuing explosion.

''It's very early . . . I don't have any conclusions," John Shannon, flight operations and integration manager, said in Houston late yesterday afternoon. ''We are seeing areas of the vehicle . . . we have never seen before."

While engineers said changes to the shuttle design since the Columbia tragedy have minimized the chance that foam, ice, or other debris will fall off and damage the shuttle, NASA was unable to completely eliminate that possibility. Engineers will now spend several days analyzing video and photographs from the cameras that were on the ground, in the air, and mounted on Discovery. Astronauts also took pictures yesterday from the shuttle and will employ a robotic arm to inspect the outside of the craft today.

It was unclear what will happen if NASA scientists discover the shuttle is damaged from falling debris. In one scenario that has never been tested, NASA would have the shuttle crew wait in the cramped International Space Station for a rescue attempt by the shuttle Atlantis. But the crew is also equipped with repair kits that include caulking guns and putty knives that they were going to test to determine whether heat-shield emergency repairs could be made in case of a puncture. But NASA officials -- and Discovery's astronauts -- have indicated they do not want to attempt a real repair with the test kits, so it is unclear whether the kits might be used.

During the launch, the air rumbled and a wave of cheers went up at Kennedy Space Center as Discovery and its seven astronauts sliced through two puffy clouds and blue skies before disappearing for a 13-day mission to test new safety gear and deliver supplies to the space station. More than 150,000 watched the fiery launch from nearby roadways and rooftops, marking the start of what NASA hopes to be a new era of confidence in space flight and more daring solar system travel.

''Today, Mother Nature smiled on us and I think the Columbia crew smiled on us too," said NASA associate administrator William Readdy.

There was no hint of the fuel sensor problem that forced NASA to scrub a mission attempt nearly two weeks ago just a few hours before launch. Yesterday, NASA administrator Michael Griffin said that officials still don't know what caused that ''unexplained anomaly," and that he was disappointed the problem didn't happen again so engineers could trace it.

While gleeful over the 10:39 a.m. launch, NASA officials were noticeably cautious, saying they will not know for several days whether enormous efforts to protect Discovery from the problems that doomed Columbia were successful -- and would not celebrate until the vehicle safely lands in the early morning hours of Aug. 7.

NASA has worked to minimize the risk to Discovery of falling ice and foam during launch, according to an independent advisory group. But the space agency failed to fully reduce that risk -- or make the shuttle's skin durable enough to resist such an impact. The advisory group also said there was no plan for an in-flight repair -- but members still said the shuttle should fly.

Almost three hours after takeoff, flight commander Eileen Collins, 48, radioed mission control that the liftoff was the smoothest of her four flights and thanked shuttle workers for their ''super work." Collins is joined by pilot Jim Kelly and mission specialists Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charles Camarda, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

Laura Bush watched the launch at Cape Canaveral with Florida Governor Jeb Bush and about 2,500 other NASA guests. ''It's an important day for our country," she said.

President Bush watched from his private dining room in the White House, saying ''this flight is an essential step toward our goal of continuing to lead the world in space science, human space flight, and space exploration."

NASA needs the shuttle to fly again to bring as many as 28 loads of cargo to meet the obligations it has to the space station. The agency plans to retire the aging fleet in 2010. Bush has called for a new space era, to put an astronaut back on the moon by 2020, and then launch a mission to Mars. NASA is developing a new vehicle to get astronauts there, but agency officials said it would be irresponsible not to fix and then finish the shuttle program's mission before fully focusing on the next era of space travel.

NASA has made hundreds of modifications to make the shuttle safer, including the camera system, to ensure the agency does ''not proceed out of ignorance," said John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University and a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

''There have been debris hits on every mission," he said. ''If you saw something fall off it doesn't necessarily mean it hit the thermal protection system."

Along Florida's Space Coast -- and across the country -- adults and children wished the astronauts a safe journey. Viewers of NASA's broadcast at the McAuliffe Challenger Center at Framingham State College, named for teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who died on the Challenger, gasped as the shuttle went off.

Each time the announcer ticked off the shuttle's speed -- 2,000 miles per hour, 3,033 miles per hour, 17,000 miles per hour -- the crowd muttered in awe.

''I was crossing my fingers that they were going to make it," said Lisa Steck, 44, a third-grade teacher in Framingham, closing her eyes. ''I think it's fantastic that we just sent someone up again."

Globe correspondent Adam Jadhav contributed to this report.