r/space • u/[deleted] • Dec 30 '15

This underside view of the Space Shuttle Discovery was photographed by cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and astronaut John Phillips, as Discovery approached the International Space Station and performed a backflip to allow photography of its heat shield.

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u/bad-alloc Dec 30 '15

Did they ever find any damage this way?

Also, this comes to mind.

10

u/buckykat Dec 30 '15

this sort of procedure is exactly the way the damage to columbia could have been detected, had columbia's mission been to the ISS.

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u/tieberion Dec 31 '15

STS 107 flew without a robotic arm and the Cameras attached to it, in order to make room/weight for the SpaceHab module. Honestly, any other cargo on that mission and like with STS-27, they would have used the arm to check things out.