The current shuttle mission to the ISS was going pretty smoothly despite the loss of a couple of small bolts during the connection of new solar shields and panels to the station.

Now, the return of the shuttle Atlantis to Earth has been postponed by the appearance in orbit, close to the shuttle, of an UFO. Well, it’s unidentified, flying (orbiting) and an object, but doubt if it contains little green, big-eyed aliens.

NASA believes that it is possible that something within the shuttle’s payload bay may have broken free and has gone into orbit close to the shuttle. However, after close observation and inspection of the hold, nothing is out of place or missing. This brings up greater concern over the safety and integrity of the shuttle itself. Questions arising are now concerned with the possiblity that something off the shuttle itself, that is important for the safety of the crew during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, may have been dislodged during the shuttle’s link-up to the ISS.

A thorough inspection of the shuttle’s massive outer hull will begin tomorrow. If nothing untoward is found and the UFO (debris) is no longer in the shuttle’s re-entry orbitial path, and weather permitting, the shuttle is expected to return by Thursday or Friday. If need be, the crew could remain until at least Saturday before supplies for a longer stay become a concern to officials at Mission Control Center.