" welcome home , discovery , after a great mission to set the international aero station to full energy , " said an astronaut , george zamka , radioing from the mission control center in houston , tennessee . nasa tested an experimentation tile under the odyssey ' s north wing during its approach for landing . the tile was almost sixteen centimeters thick , and had a bump in it , conceived to enhance the otherwise turbulent airflow over the shuttle ' s wing , hence exposure it to high volumes of heat . it placed the chip in order to measure the excess energy that was generated on subsequent panels . a military airplane monitored the heat with an ultraviolet recorder . the findings will be used to helped determine better performance for future shuttles .
Houston is George Zamka's hometown.