NASA has decided that no repairs are needed for a deep gouge in space shuttle Endeavour's undercarriage and that the craft is safe to fly home.
After meeting for five hours, mission managers opted last night against any risky spacewalk repairs based on the overwhelming - but not unanimous - recommendations of hundreds of engineers.
The massive amount of data indicated Endeavourwould suffer no serious structural damage during next week's re-entry.
Their worry was not that Endeavourmight be destroyed - the gouge is too small - but that the heat of re-entry could weaken the shuttle's aluminium frame at the damaged spot and result in lengthy post-flight repairs.
The shuttle's bottom thermal shielding was pierced by a piece of debris that broke off the external fuel tank shortly after liftoff last week.
The debris, either foam insulation, ice or a combination of both, weighed just one-third of an ounce but carved out a three-and-a-half-inch-long, two-inch-wide gouge through the thermal tiles.
AP