Thunderstorms near the Kennedy Space Center forced Nasa to postpone the launch of the space shuttle Endeavouruntil today on a mission to deliver a Japanese-built platform to the International Space Station.
"We had some colliding sea breezes," launch director Pete Nickolenko radioed to the Endeavour crew. "We're going to have to declare a scrub for today and try to bring the team back for another attempt tomorrow."
The launch was rescheduled for 22.51pm Irish time today, although meteorologists said there was a 60 per cent chance the weather would not be good enough.
It was the fourth delay of Endeavour's flight. Two launch attempts last month were scuttled by hydrogen fuel leaks and a third try on Saturday ended when NASA ordered checks of the shuttle's electrical systems after lightning struck the mast of the launch pad on Friday.
The shuttle's primary cargo is a porch for Japan's $2.4 billion Kibo laboratory complex on the space station. The platform can be used to expose experiments to the open environment of space.
A small robotic crane will be able to retrieve and service experiments on the platform without time-consuming and potentially dangerous spacewalks by station crewmembers.
Nasa launched the first section of the elaborate three-part complex in March 2008 and the second section two month later.
The porch is scheduled to be installed during the first of five spacewalks planned during Endeavour's 12-day stay at the outpost, a $100 billion project of 16 nations.
Reuters
