Astronaut tweets from space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Discovery's astronauts surveyed their ship Saturday for any signs of damage after Friday's midnight liftoff.

NASA said it hasn't seen any fuel tank debris hitting the shuttle during the launch, but Discovery's most vulnerable areas - the wings and nose - still needed to be checked.

The ship and its seven astronauts are ferrying 17,000 pounds of supplies to the international space station, where it's expected Sunday.

The astronauts aren't the only new residents heading for the orbiting outpost. Six mice along for the ride will move in for a three-month stay as part of a bone loss study. Astronaut Nicole Stott will join them.

Also on board is a $5 million treadmill to expand the station's gym and comedian Stephen Colbert's brand. The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT for short, is named after him.

Stockton native and Discovery mission specialist Jose Hernandez send back with first English and Spanish messages on his online Twitter page Saturday. You can follow Hernandez's posts here.

Around 8 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, Hernandez tweeted, "Settling in and realizing my dream... Micro G is great. Finished setting up the computers and ready for bed! Don't need pillow!"