NASA sidelines spacewalk, adds inspection

NASA sidelines spacewalk, adds inspection

HOUSTON (Reuters) -- Shuttle Atlantis astronauts will take a closer look at a minor tear in their ship's heat shield on Sunday after an undisclosed medical issue sidelined plans for a spacewalk to install Europe's Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station, NASA officials saidThe spacewalk, the first of three planned during Atlantis' visit, was rescheduled for Monday. Atlantis crew member Hans Schlegel, a German astronaut with the European Space Agency, will be replaced by backup Stanley Love for the task.

NASA added a day to the previously planned 11-day flight to make up the lost time. Crew members are trying to save enough electricity for a possible 13th day in orbit to give the crew extra time to set up the Columbus laboratory.

Schlegel, 56, sounded cheery after a wake-up call by Mission Control early Sunday.

"Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for this piece of music. It's a German song about the nature of man and was selected by my dear wife," Schlegel said.

Whether Schlegel would be able to participate in the second spacewalk of the mission had not yet been determined, John Shannon, the co-chairman of the mission management team told reporters.

Atlantis reached the space station on Saturday after a two-day journey that began with a launch on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ship carries Europe's first permanent space research laboratory, a $1.9 billion project that is the heart of the European Space Agency's contribution to the $100 billion space station program.

In addition to Schlegel, who made one previous spaceflight in 1993, Atlantis carried European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who transferred to the space station crew.

Eyharts is to remain behind after Atlantis' delayed departure on February 17, taking the place of NASA's Dan Tani as a member of the resident station crew.

The combined shuttle and station crews began transferring the food, water and other supplies carried aboard Atlantis for the orbital outpost. They also planned to inspect a small tear in a thermal blanket on one of the shuttle's steering engines.