Patrick G. Forrester

With a 4-inch gap in the space shuttle Atlantis ' heat-protecting blanket not appearing to be an urgent problem on Saturday, the crew readied themselves for what NASA called a delicate ballet with the international space station.Then the shuttle will enter a weeklong embrace Sunday with the orbital outpost.Atlantis' seven astronauts spent much of Saturday on a mandatory inspection of the shuttle's delicate heat tiles, outer edges and blankets for problems similar to the kind that caused the fatal Columbia accident in 2003. As of Saturday afternoon, no glaring problems were reported.But late Friday and early Saturday, the crew spent extra time using a robot arm to look at a gap in a thermal blanket on the left side of the shuttle. The gap, about 4 inches, appears to be the result of an unusual fold in the blanket, NASA spokeswoman Lynette Madison said.• Click here to watch live coverage from NASA's Mission Control.NASA mission managers discussed the gap Saturday and were not ready to pr...

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