"We don't have any reason for concern or alarm," said Leroy Cain, deputy shuttle program manager.

"We are very much in the middle of this process. I wanted to show you some areas we are working on," he told reporters.

Graphics depicting several chipped tiles on the underside of the orbiter were broadcast during a routine press conference at the end of Day 3 of the shuttle mission, with three tiles highlighted in yellow as of particular interest to NASA, Cain said.

Astronauts were able to capture high resolution photos of the shuttle's exterior when it approached the International Space Station earlier Wednesday, doing a nine-minute, 360-degree flip before docking at the orbiting lab.

The crew is equipped with kits to repair damaged tiles if needed. Shuttle managers would know more about what steps, if any, should be taken in the coming days, Cain said.

The shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2003 during its fiery re-entry toward Earth after its heat shield was damaged by a piece of foam that broke off the external fuel tank during launch, weakening the shuttle's protective cover.

NASA has taken particular care to closely examine the shuttle's heat shield after liftoff ever since.

Endeavour is the second to last mission of the US shuttle program, which will end later this year after the final launch by Atlantis.

earlier related report
Endeavour crew starts work at space station: NASA
Washington (AFP) May 18, 2011 - The US space shuttle Endeavour, with six astronauts on board including an Italian, docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, NASA said.

The shuttle blasted off Monday on a 16-day mission to deliver a potent physics experiment to probe the origins of the universe.

After the Endeavour crew of six greeted the six astronauts already at the orbiting space labs, the team set about the first order of business by transferring the Express Logistics Carrier from Endeavour's robotic arm to the ISS.

The carrier holds extra parts for the space station, including an ammonia tank, a high-pressure gas tank, a cargo transport container, and a spare arm for the Canadian robot Dextre.

On Thursday, astronauts install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, a $2 billion dollar, 15,000 pound (7,000 kilogram) particle detector.

The experiment will be left behind to scour the universe for hints of dark matter and antimatter over the next decade.

After the logistics carrier was unloaded, the astronauts were fast approaching the end of their day, with the Endeavour crew set to start their sleep shift at 3:06 Eastern time (1906 GMT) followed by the ISS crew at 5:30 pm (2130 GMT).

"The crew of 12 will be together until May 23, when space station crew members Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli undock and return home to Earth," NASA said.

The Endeavour mission, which will include four spacewalks, is being commanded by astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Democratic US Representative Gabrielle Giffords who is recovering after being shot in the head at a January political meeting with local voters.

The shuttle will remain at the station until May 30, returning to the United States on June 1.

The 30-year US space shuttle program formally ends later this year with the flight of Atlantis, leaving Russia's space capsules as the sole option for world astronauts heading to and from the orbiting research lab.

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