Debris spotted on launch of Endeavour. Image Credit: NASA

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Update:  March 13, 2008.  Apparently NASA is speculating the debris actually fell on the other side of the booster, thus missing the orbiter.  So far it appears there is no damage from that or any other debris; the heat shield image analysis continues.

Discovery News is reporting NASA is thinking about a piece of debris that may have struck the shuttle Endeavour 10 seconds after launch. The odd thing is the debris might have hit Endeavour’s nose.

They don’t know what the debris was, or if in fact it even struck the shuttle at all. Perhaps this would be less of a mystery if this had been a daylight launch, because more cameras would have captured it. I looked through all the different angles and cameras I had and they were too dark. Although it makes little difference at this point and we will see more when the shuttle arrives at the ISS in a few hours.

At least happening just after launch means the speeds involved were relatively low.

Have a look at the Discovery News release for more.

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