Engineers at the space agency have spent the last several days analyzing thousands of images taken by the large array of cameras - including two operated by the International Space Station crew - that have inspected practically every inch of Discovery's exterior and found only five items that raised concern.

For example, after studying a piece of insulation protruding from Discovery's windshield and a gap filler that had come loose from between two tiles on the orbiter's heat shield, engineers determined that neither would prevent the shuttle's safe re-entry through the atmosphere.

"The guys were telling me the windows were not going to be a concern at all," said Steve Poulos, the shuttle's program manager, at a news briefing at Johnson Space Center. "We'll (also) be able to show that we are going to clear (the gap filler) as well - but I don't want to necessarily presuppose the data."

Astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum performed the first of a possible three spacewalks on Friday, testing a remotely operated arm that could have been used to reach the gap filler if necessary.

First, Sellers strapped his boots to a pole at the tip of the 15-meter (50-foot) long boom, added to the shuttle's robotic arm, and moved around to test its stability. Then Fossum joined him at the boom's end to see if it could permit the mass of two spacesuited astronauts.

Regarding the extended boom, mission director Tony Ceccacci said, "Hopefully we'll never have to use it, but we know we have the capability if we do need to."

Though the second spacewalk scheduled for Monday is supposed to be used for station construction and repairs, if the third spacewalk is approved - perhaps as early as Wednesday - Sellers and Fossum would test a repair procedure to the shuttle's heat shield using pre-damaged samples of reinforced carbon-carbon, a composite material used on the shuttle's wing leading edges.

Meanwhile, the shuttle and space station crew continued unloading Leonardo, the Italian-built multipurpose logistics module, which arrived aboard Discovery.

Every member of the two crews participated in cargo off-leading activities throughout the day. Mission specialist Stephanie Wilson led the transfer effort, which involves more than 7,400 pounds of equipment and supplies brought in Leonardo and 1,800 pounds from the shuttle's mid-deck.

NASA mission controllers reported that 14 percent of equipment and supplies from Leonardo already has been transferred, including the Minus Eighty Lab Freezer and the 1,400-pound Oxygen Generation System that will expand the station's ability to support up to six crewmembers.

Controllers said 6 percent of equipment from the mid-deck has been relocated.

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