plans to launch the space shuttle Endeavour after stormy weather forced the fourth postponement of its mission to the International Space Station."Looks like the team is ready but the weather is not. At this time we are no-go," the US space agency's launch director Pete Nickolenko said with the crew aboard and little more than 10 minutes to go before the planned takeoff on Sunday.
The shuttle launch was rescheduled for Monday at 6:51 pm (2251 GMT), Nickolenko said.
However, forecasters said the likelihood of favorable conditions was just 40 percent, far below the forecast leading up to Sunday's scrapped attempt when meteorologists predicted a 70 percent chance of good weather.
The cancellation was forced by a storm system that developed late afternoon near the launch site in Florida and gradually moved within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of launchpad 39A, where the Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew were waiting to take off.
NASA officials waited until just minutes before liftoff to scrub the launch, hoping that a sea breeze might shift the weather system further afield, as has happened before.
But as the minutes ticked down, there were reports of lightning strikes within miles of the Kennedy Space Center, forcing the cancellation.
Lightning strikes were responsible for the third of four delays to Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to assemble the Japanese Kibo laboratory.
A Friday night storm produced at least 11 lightning strikes that hit the shuttle's pad, but did not damage the shuttle.
Takeoff had been delayed previously twice after the discovery of potentially hazardous fuel leaks, apparently caused by a misaligned plate linking a hydrogen gas vent line with the external fuel tank.
For further details visit as : www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ihvfcMvC77MUVRLm4z5p63mE4i7w
The shuttle launch was rescheduled for Monday at 6:51 pm (2251 GMT), Nickolenko said.
However, forecasters said the likelihood of favorable conditions was just 40 percent, far below the forecast leading up to Sunday's scrapped attempt when meteorologists predicted a 70 percent chance of good weather.
The cancellation was forced by a storm system that developed late afternoon near the launch site in Florida and gradually moved within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of launchpad 39A, where the Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew were waiting to take off.
NASA officials waited until just minutes before liftoff to scrub the launch, hoping that a sea breeze might shift the weather system further afield, as has happened before.
But as the minutes ticked down, there were reports of lightning strikes within miles of the Kennedy Space Center, forcing the cancellation.
Lightning strikes were responsible for the third of four delays to Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to assemble the Japanese Kibo laboratory.
A Friday night storm produced at least 11 lightning strikes that hit the shuttle's pad, but did not damage the shuttle.
Takeoff had been delayed previously twice after the discovery of potentially hazardous fuel leaks, apparently caused by a misaligned plate linking a hydrogen gas vent line with the external fuel tank.
For further details visit as : www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ihvfcMvC77MUVRLm4z5p63mE4i7w
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