Endeavour hit by part of fuel tank insulation (Lead)

Several pieces of insulation broke free from the space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank when it took off and at least one piece hit the orbiter, The New York Times reported.

Three heat-resistant tiles on the shuttle's underside were affected, but the damage during Wednesday's launch was superficial, the associate administrator for space operations William H. Gerstenmaier said.

The crew would check the shuttle after arrival at the International Space Station (ISS).

In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry because of damage to its heat shield caused by debris that broke loose during its launch, killing all on board.

Endeavour was heading toward the space station to expand Japan's Kibo laboratory module after it blasted off on its sixth attempt to launch since June.

Its seven-member crew is to deliver an outside porch to the module at the station to expose scientific experiments to the extremities of space.

The mission had suffered a slew of delays that kept the craft on the ground for weeks longer than planned.

Weather scrubbed launches Saturday, Sunday and Monday while technical glitches forced two postponements last month after technicians detected hydrogen gas leaks during fuelling just hours before the scheduled liftoffs.

Endeavour, which was expected to dock at the space station Saturday, is bringing a new resident to the station's crew, US astronaut Tim Kopra, to replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata on the recently expanded six-person station crew.

Five spacewalks are planned for the 17-day mission with the installation of new space-station components and the delivery of spare parts, which are to help keep the station running after the shuttle programme is retired next year.

The 4,082-kg porch, known as the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposed Facility, is to be installed in the first spacewalk.

Last updated on Jul 16^th, 2009 at 13:22 pm IST--DPA