ice floated away

The crew has sent down video of the mystery object that astronaut Mike
Fossum saw floating away from the shuttle while he was doing routine
filming of external-tank separation. NASA says preliminary analysis
indicates that the object is ice.

From Mission Control in Houston, astronaut Steve Frick told the crew,
"The initial assessment here is that it does indeed look like ice."

Frick told the astronauts that NASA saw a similar incident after
Discovery's launch last year. The footage will be examined extensively
in the hours ahead. Fossum had speculated that it might have been a
thermal blanket. Blankets are used on parts of the orbiter for heat
protection during re-entry.

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