Space Shuttle Alantis is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station Sunday.
Astronauts inspected the outside of space shuttle for any damage Saturday. Their main focus was a four-inch tear in some of the protective heat resistant material near the tail of Atlantis.
The damage is on a thermal blanket on an upper surface of Atlantis near the tail. That area covers the top surface of the pod that contains some of Atlantis's engines used to steer in space. The area where the damage is receives much less heat than the lower part of the shuttle when it comes back to Earth.
Initial reviews suggest the damage will not cause any problems for the crew, but engineers will examine still pictures and video images to make sure.
Besides the thermal blanker, NASA engineers are also paying special attention to foam loss from the external fuel tank. It was a chunk of foam that caused fatal damage to Columbia four years ago.
While they expected some foam to fall off, one piece in particular caused them some concern, but it didn't cause any damage to Atlantis.
NASA also reports the two solid rocket boosters were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, and are expected back on dry land on Sunday.