the wings and nose still needed to be checked

the wings and nose still needed to be checked The crew focused on the most vulnerable pandora beadsareas -- the heat shield on the wings and nose. But the survey fell short on the left wing.

Atlantis' astronauts likely will use the shuttle robot arm to complete the inspection following Sunday's docking. In addition, extra photos will be ordered up from the space station crew during Atlantis' final approach.

Astronauts also might be able to free the cable during one of three planned spacewalks.

''Kind of a strange one,'' Ham noted, ''and we'll be interested to see how this plays out.''

Sarafin said it was too soon to know whether the equipment was put in wrong or whether the cable was shaken out of position during liftoff.

Day-after-launch and day-before-landing shuttle inspections were put in place following the 2003 Columbia disaster. Columbia shattered during re-entry because of a hole in the left wing; it was left there by insulating foam that broke off the fuel tank during liftoff.

Only a few small pieces of foam were spotted coming off Atlantis' tank Friday. Nonetheless, the wings and nose still needed to be checked.

This is Atlantis' last planned flight after a quarter-century of service. It's hauling fresh batteries and a new Russian compartment to the space station.

Only two more shuttle flights remain, by Discovery and Endeavour. NASA pandora beadsis ending the program so it can focus on presidential-ordered trips to asteroids and Mars.