CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Even as the wounded space shuttle Endeavour brought its seven astronauts safely home Tuesday, NASA is looking ahead to three more launches at risk for the same kind of damage.

There is a striking parallel with the 2003 Columbia disaster in the space agency’s failure to anticipate the harm from breaking ice or insulating foam — this time from a new area of the shuttle’s fuel tank.

The 3-inch-long gouge in Endeavour’s belly did not put the astronauts at risk. And as soon as the damaged tiles are popped off, engineers will know whether repairs are needed to the underlying aluminum structure. The gash seemed to weather the return flight well, NASA said.

Back before Columbia flew its last mission four years ago, NASA knew it had a foam problem with its fuel tanks but never imagined a piece of the airy insulation could severely wound a space shuttle.

The result: Columbia shattered during re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, just five days before engineers were to propose possible repairs.

This time, NASA knew it had a foam problem with brackets on its fuel tanks but never imagined a stray piece would ricochet off the tank and smash into the shuttle.

The result: Endeavour was gouged.

Endeavour’s gash, although deep, was too small for scorching atmospheric gases to penetrate and cause serious damage, mission managers said during the flight. It was also on the belly, a more benign area than the nose or wings, which are subjected to much higher heat. The plate-size hole that brought down Columbia pierced the left wing.

After checking out Endeavour on the runway Tuesday, officials said there was no apparent charring to the exposed felt fabric, the last barrier before the shuttle’s aluminum frame.

But now NASA finds itself playing catch-up. It’s analyzing temporary bracket solutions, which may or may not be in place before the next flight in October.