11.   Richard Cook, the mission manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here, said Thursday that Sojourner was undamaged and that such an accident was not unexpected.

12.   Saturday could be the final attempt for this mission until late November, though mission managers have yet to officially declare those intentions.

13.   Spartan mission manager Mark Steiner said the tumbling problem will have to be resolved before a working antenna can be deployed.

14.   The advance nearly prompted mission managers to order the shuttle crew to pick up the Wake Shield early Monday.

15.   The hardest part was convincing other mission managers that it could do no harm to flash the citizenry of the United States as NEAR zooms past.

16.   The shuttle crew is conserving electrical power so that mission managers can extend its visit from Saturday to Sunday.

17.   There were additional landing opportunities in Florida and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., later in the day, though mission managers favored a Kennedy touchdown.

18.   Though Atlantis was unaffected, mission managers have directed engineers to determine whether a protruding bolt could rub against the shuttle, causing the tank to gyrate.

19.   Worried that the pin could damage the shuttle at lift-off, mission managers stopped the countdown.

20.   Possible computer problems aboard Discovery, meanwhile, had mission managers huddling Saturday night.