By Jeff Franks

HOUSTON (Reuters) - NASA said it was smooth sailing on Friday for U.S. space shuttle Atlantis as it headed toward the International Space Station for the long-delayed delivery of a European laboratory.

An initial inspection of the ship's heat shield turned up no significant damage following Thursday's launch from Florida, although more data must be studied, the U.S. space agency said.

A few bits of fuel tank insulation foam shook loose from the shuttle as it rose into space, but they appeared to have been harmless, NASA officials said.

Atlantis was scheduled to dock with the station on Saturday where it will attach the European Space Agency's Columbus module in the latest addition to the $100 billion space outpost.

Columbus was supposed to have been delivered in 2002, but has been delayed by events including the destruction of shuttle Columbia in 2003 that caused NASA to suspend shuttle flights for 2-1/2 years.

Columbia's demise was blamed on fuel tank foam that broke off and knocked a hole in the wing heat shield during launch.

The damage went undetected and led to the shuttle disintegrating when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, killing the seven astronauts on board.

Friday's heat shield inspection, conducted by shuttle crewmembers using a sensor-laden robot arm, was a procedure NASA has included in all flights since Columbia.  Continued...