Jul 12, 2009 8:50 pm US/Pacific
NASA Scrubs Launch Of Endeavour For 2nd Day
NASA: Endeavour To Leave Kennedy Space Station At 7:13p.m.
CAPE CANVERAL, Fla. (CBS) ―
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Astronauts (L to R) Dave Wolf, Tim Copra, Tom Marshburn, Canadian Julie Payette, Christopher Cassidy, Pilot Doug Hurley and Commander Mark Polansky (not shown) pose for a photo.
Matt Stroshane
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The Space Shuttle Endeavour is seen on July 11, 2009, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after NASA postponed the planned launch due to lightning strikes on and near the launch pad.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
Thunderstorms have forced NASA to delay Sunday evening's launch of space shuttle Endeavour.
The launch team came within minutes of sending Endeavour and seven astronauts to the international space station. But storms moving in from the west violated NASA's safety rules, and managers called everything off. They will try again Monday at 6:51 p.m. EST.
It was NASA's fourth launch attempt over the past month. Saturday's try was foiled by lightning. Hydrogen gas leaks caused two postponements in June.
NASA has until Tuesday, possibly Wednesday, to launch Endeavour with the final piece of Japan's space station lab. Otherwise, it will have to wait until the end of July because of a Russian supply ship that's awaiting liftoff.
It was NASA's fourth attempt to send Endeavour on a space station construction mission. Saturday's try was also foiled by a series of lightning strikes around the pad that required extra checks of the many critical shuttle systems. Back in June, hydrogen gas leaks held everything up.
No leaks popped up this time, thanks to all the repairs, as NASA fueled Endeavour's external tank for the planned 7:13 p.m. liftoff. The tight plumbing allowed commander Mark Polansky and his crew to board the shuttle for the first time for a real launch try. None of the previous countdowns got that far.
The astronauts grinned, waved and gave a thumbs-up as they headed to the pad.
Endeavour holds the third and final segment of Japan's enormous $1 billion space station lab, named Kibo, or Hope. It's a porch for experiments that need to be exposed to the vacuum of space. The shuttle also is loaded with large spare parts for the space station and hundreds of pounds of food for the six station residents.
When the shuttle astronauts arrive at the space station, it will make for the biggest crowd ever in a single place in orbit: 13 people.
All of the major space station partners will be represented: the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan.
An estimated 60 Japanese were on hand for Sunday's launch attempt, a considerably smaller group than back in mid-June for NASA's initial tries.
One of the Americans flying up on Endeavour will trade places with the lone Japanese on the space station, who has been on board since March.
Endeavour will spend nearly two weeks at the space station. In all, the flight will last 16 days. Five spacewalks are planned to hook up the Japanese lab's new porch, replace space station batteries and perform other maintenance.
Eight shuttle flights remain, including this one, all involving space station work.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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