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Shuttle crew preparing for undocking on Saturday

You are a superwoman, Japanese Prime Minister tells Commander Collins in live chat

HOUSTON (TEXAS): Discovery's crew were preparing the shuttle for its return voyage, the day after making a perilous repair to the underbelly of the spacecraft. But mission control continued to study the risks posed by a small piece of thermal blanket that has been knocked loose below the cockpit.

Seven astronauts from the Discovery and two from the International Space Station were on Thursday transferring supplies and equipment, waste and discarded gear to and from the station, in preparation for the shuttle's return to Earth, NASA said.

On Friday, the Raffaello cargo module used in the transfer operations will be stowed inside the Discovery's payload bay, and the shuttle will be prepared for its undocking on Saturday from the space station and its descent and landing on Monday.

Mission control team at Johnson Space Center were still, however, considering what to do about the thermal blanket below the shuttle cockpit.

Though it does not risk overheating during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere since it is not on the underside of the shuttle, NASA engineers were worried that the blanket might tear loose and cause damage. NASA said it was conducting tests in a wind tunnel to determine the impact the piece of blanket would have on the shuttle's outer structure.

The contour of the vessel's belly must be smooth so that it does not overheat. A crack in Columbia's thermal shield caused by a piece of foam that hit the wing during liftoff was blamed for its destruction.

Tribute to astronauts

Space shuttle Discovery Commander Eileen Collins said she was confident about returning her crew to Earth safely as they planned a tribute to the seven Columbia astronauts, including Kalpana Chawla, who died in 2003. ``We have looked at everything,'' Ms. Collins told The Associated Press in an interview. ``I wouldn't fly this flight if I didn't think it was a safe thing to do.''

A noodle enquiry

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took a few minutes' break from a potentially devastating political battle over postal privatisation to discuss noodles with a space shuttle astronaut.

Space noodles

In a live link-up with the Discovery, Mr. Koizumi chatted with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and Ms. Collins about various aspects of their mission, including an instant noodle dish specially developed for consumption in space.

``Mr. Noguchi, I tried the space noodles, but how did they taste in space? Were they good?''

``Space noodles were one of the things I was really looking forward to,'' Mr. Noguchi replied.

``They were surprisingly close to the delicious taste of noodles on Earth,'' he added.

Mr. Koizumi told Ms. Collins he watched her on television every day and was extremely impressed. ``In every respect: ability, courage, patience and sense of duty, you are not a spacewoman, but a superwoman,'' he said.

Ms. Collins said Thursday she was confident about returning home safely next week. ``We have looked at everything,'' she told The Associated Press in an interview. ``I wouldn't fly this flight if I didn't think it was a safe thing to do.'' As Discovery orbited the Earth on Thursday, the shuttle's crew sent down images of the planet below and each crew member took a few minutes to discuss space exploration, its costs and remembered those who did not make it home.

``We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard,'' astronaut Wendy Lawrence said.

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