In this image made from NASA TV, a camera mounted on the Space Shuttle Discovery's robot arm shows the docking port in the cargo bay Wednesday, July 5, 2006. The shuttle is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station Thursday, July 6. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    BEIJING, July 6 -- The crew of Discovery began their first full day in space yesterday preparing for one of the most comprehensive in-flight inspections of any shuttle flight.

    Hurtling toward a rendezvous with the international space station, the shuttle's astronauts began deploying a boom they would use to inspect Discovery for any damage from debris shed by the external fuel tank during liftoff.

    Live video of Tuesday's launch on America's Independence Day holiday showed some small chunks of debris falling from the tank, but shuttle managers said they weren't worried.

    The astronauts were taking more images of the shuttle's wings and nose cap using laser, digital and video cameras attached to a 15-meter boom. The new inspection techniques, implemented after the Columbia disaster, can spot damage as small as an eighth of an inch.

    "We saw nothing that gives us any kind of concern about the health of the crew or the vehicle," said Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager.

    The seven-member Discovery crew awoke early yesterday to sounds of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," sometimes referred to as the black national anthem.

    "That one is particularly dear to my heart because ... after the day of our nation's independence, it's very fitting because it reminds us that anyone and everyone can participate in the space program," astronaut Stephanie Wilson, only the second black woman in space, said to Mission Control.

    Astronaut Mike Fossum sent Mission Control in Houston video showing him, pilot Mark Kelly and specialist Lisa Nowak in the flight deck during Tuesday's launch.

    Shuttle managers said early video images of Discovery's liftoff showing small pieces of foam breaking away - and one striking the spacecraft - were not troubling.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)