Discovery Commander Steven Lindsey successfully steered the space shuttle into a tricky backflip Thursday, allowing the International Space Station crew to take pictures critical to the shuttle's safety, NASA said.
"The rendezvous pitch maneuver complete," a NASA mission control commentator said.
ISS crew members Pavel Vinogradov of Russia and Jeffrey Williams of the United States used digital cameras to photograph the shuttle's underbelly in order to detect any damage that could endanger the shuttle on its return to Earth.
Lindsey performed the 360-degree maneuver about 180 meters (600 feet) below the space station in about nine minutes, prior to docking at the orbiting outpost, officials at the Johnson Space Center here said.
NASA analysts will review the pictures.
