The space shuttle Discovery performed a slow backflip and then docked at the international space station on Monday, delivering a mammoth lab and two new occupants: a NASA astronaut and Buzz Lightyear.Back at the launch site, meanwhile, NASA hurriedly set up an investigation to figure out why the launch pad suffered its worst damage in 27 years of space shuttle flight. Bricks and mortar flew off the pad during Discovery’s liftoff Saturday.
Discovery was not struck by any of the debris — engineers pored over the launch pictures to be sure of that, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team. When asked by a reporter if NASA got lucky in that regard, he said: “I don’t like to think in terms of luck.”
Commander Mark Kelly pulled up to the space station and parked as the two spacecraft soared 210 miles (335 kilometers) above the South Pacific.
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