NASA flight engineers repaired the Atlantis heat shield during a spacewalk that occurred on Friday.  Astronauts used staples to hold down the thermal blanket which ripped loose from an engine pod during the shuttle's launch.    

Maintenance was done until ground engineers were satisfied the repairs would help the shuttle return back to Earth safely.  Since the shuttle Columbia disaster, NASA has been meticulous to check and double-check the mechanical integrity of the shuttle.

The NASA Mission Control Center cleared the shuttle to land at Cape Canaveral on Thursday.  However, officials are thinking about keeping the shuttle docked at the ISS an extra day because of Russian computer failure.  The failed computers, which appear to be operational again, control orientation and oxygen production on the ISS.

More than 122 pounds of explosives helped topple two mobile service towers located at the Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, FL.  The towers were removed due to corrosion which could have led to a safety hazard for workers.

As an aside from the typical news published in DailyTech's International Space Updates -- a Chicago area mother's baby monitor has been receiving a black-and-white video feed from space.  Natalie Meilinger has had the feed since last Sunday evening -- and said she is "addicted to it" and keeps "waiting to see what's next."

While the feed is not coming directly from the shuttle, it is available to anyone with access to the NASA web site -- this situation is not something that happens often, according to Brandi Dean, NASA Spokesperson.