Shuttle Launch Scrubbed Due To Storms

(AP)  Thunderstorms once again forced NASA to call off the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on Monday, the fifth delay for the space station construction mission.

NASA said it would try again Wednesday, after taking a one-day break.

In a scene nearly identical to Sunday, launch managers halted the countdown just minutes before Endeavour and seven astronauts were supposed to blast off in the early evening.

This time, storms packed with lightning popped up on opposite sides of the launching site, one after the other, close enough to violate NASA's safety rules.

Endeavour has been grounded for an entire month now, first by leaks, then stormy weather. If the shuttle isn't flying soon, it will have to wait until July 27 so Russia can launch supplies to the space station.

"The weather has just bitten us again," launch director Pete Nickolenko informed commander Mark Polansky and his crew aboard Endeavour. "So sorry about that."

"We understand," Polansky replied. "That's the nature of our business and like I said before, when the time is right, we'll be here, we'll be ready."

This was the third day in a row that thunderstorms prevented Endeavour from blasting off with the final piece of Japan's space station lab. Back in June, hydrogen gas leaks stalled two launch attempts.

The only technical concern Monday was a loose cover on a shuttle thruster. NASA said it would secure the cover before Wednesday's try to prevent rain from getting into the thruster.

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, they will make up the biggest crowd ever in a single place in orbit: 13 people.

[grabandgo]

Ka Ching Ka Ching...
and our tax dollars are wasted another day!

[John_Merritt]

The fifth time it has been cancelled. "If you don't succeed at first, try, try, again'. Just a question, "How much money have we spent on these dry runs up to date, and why are they not launching these rockets in the Florida mornings where the storm clouds are absent?"

Maybe someone is trying to tell you something? What is in your cargo? The last three times the rocket was supposed to launch, nearly all the forecasters predicted clear sailing. Suddenly and without any virtual warning these storm clouds appeared and/or did not disappear in the time frame that was expected.

I know there is no financial gain for the businesses near the Cape when you launch in the morning, but it is far more practical, isn't it?

[erasmus111]

I know there is no financial gain for the businesses near the Cape when you launch in the morning, but it is far more practical, isn't it?


They have to wait for the right time. There is what they call a "window" that they have to go through. The morning just may not be the right time, at this time. Other times it has been.