" hail home , discovery , after a great project to take the international space station to high power , " said an astronaut , george zamka , radioing from the command control center in pasadena , texas . nasa tested an experimental tile under the discovery ' s starboard wing during its procedure for landing . the ceramic was almost eight centimetres thick , and had a bump in it , likely to disturb the remaining smooth subsonic over the pioneer ' s surface , thus exposing it to large amounts of heat . engineers mounted the tile in 1974 to measure the excess steam that was generated on these tiles . a military airplane studied the heat with an infrared camera . the findings will be needed to help determine better results for subsequent atlantis .
Houston is George Zamka's hometown.