NASA Eases Concerns Over Shuttle Objects
Associated Press
“Mission Control reassured commander Mark Kelly and his crew on Friday that their spaceship was safe for coming home, and that the missing clip — one of three that hold down thermal blankets on the rudder and speed brake — would not impact anything.
“A protrusion in the same area at the tail, which was reported by the astronauts around the same time, also was found to be harmless. The angle of the lighting and the rudder’s position made the so-called bump look strange when, in fact, it was exactly how it looked at liftoff, Mission Control said.”