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NASA to Decide on Another Spacewalk for Thermal Repair


The U.S. space agency NASA is to decide later Thursday whether it will carry out another spacewalk to repair an insulation blanket on the shuttle Discovery.

Engineers are concerned that a torn thermal blanket below the shuttle commander's cockpit window could rip off during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and strike Discovery.

Earlier Thursday, the crew of Discovery held a ceremony to pay tribute to seven Colombia astronauts who died in 2003. The shuttle Colombia disintegrated on re-entry into Earth because of damage to the heat-resistant ceramic tiles that protect the spacecraft during re-entry.

On Wednesday, Discovery astronaut Steve Robinson successfully completed a spacewalk to remove two pieces of fabric dangling from between some of the shuttle's tiles on its underside.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.

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