CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — Maneuvering a laser-tipped boom, astronauts closely inspected a gash to shuttle Endeavour’s belly Sunday, providing 3-D images that NASA hopes will rule out the need for risky spacewalk repairs.

A chunk of insulating foam smacked the shuttle at liftoff last week in an unbelievably unlucky ricochet off the fuel tank and carved out the gouge.

The unevenly shaped gouge — which straddles two side-by-side tiles and possibly the corner of a third — is 3.5 inches long and just over 2 inches wide. The laser survey will determine its depth, crucial information for mission managers who must decide whether to send two astronauts out to fix the difficult-to-reach area.

That decision is expected Monday. The likelihood of repairs lessened after NASA discovered late Saturday that it was that foam hit the shuttle and not denser, more damaging ice as previously suspected.

“Thanks to the whole crew for doing a great job of the data taking,” Mission Control told the astronauts when the three-hour inspection ended. “People have a lot of analysis to do now.”

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