Clouds Force Endeavour Launch Delay
An unexpected deck of low clouds that swept over the Kennedy Space Center in the pre-dawn hours prevented space shuttle Endeavour from blasting off Sunday on the last planned nighttime shuttle launch, delaying its trip with a final few building blocks for the International Space Station.
"We tried really, really hard to work the weather," Launch Director Mike Leinbach radioed commander George Zamka from the firing room. "It was just too dynamic. We got to feeling good there at one point and then it filled back in and we just were not comfortable launching a space shuttle tonight."
Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of favorable weather Monday and Tuesday. CBS News space analyst Bill Harwood said the concern is low clouds over the Kennedy Space Center that could go broken and violate NASA's flight rules for an emergency return-to-launch-site abort and landing.
After discussing the forecast following Sunday's launch scrub, NASA managers opted to try again Monday. Assuming no other issues develop, engineers will begin fueling the shuttle around 6:45 p.m. Sunday, setting the stage for a launch attempt Monday at 4:14:08 a.m. ET.
It's expected to be the last shuttle launch in darkness. The pre-dawn departure will mean the graveyard shift for Zamka and his crew during the entire 13-day flight.
Zamka and his crewmates - pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, flight engineer Stephen Robinson and spacewalkers Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick - left the shuttle about an hour after the countdown was called off.
The shuttle delay means a one-day slip for launch of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory science satellite, from Tuesday to Wednesday, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. If Endeavour fails to get off the ground Monday, the shuttle flight will slip to Feb. 13, after the SDO mission.
The band of low clouds started moving in from the north late Saturday. NASA counted down to the nine-minute mark, but the sky remained overcast, offering little hope of a lucky break.
NASA managers said they would try again Monday, when slightly better conditions were expected.
Endeavour is loaded with a new room for the space station, as well as an observation deck. Once both of those are installed, the orbiting complex will be 98 percent complete.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden reminded journalists Saturday that there are only five shuttle missions left.
"You're going to have to figure out what else you're going to do, along with us," he said.
In an hour-long news conference, Bolden accepted the blame for the way the NASA work force was informed of President Barack Obama's plans to dismantle the Constellation moon exploration program. In the proposed budget that was released Monday, Mr. Obama set NASA on a new post-shuttle path. Specifics were lacking, but the moon was no longer at the forefront. Neither were the Ares rockets that NASA had been working on for so long.
Shuttle managers on Friday used the words "shock" and "angst" to describe their colleagues' mood.
"Why wasn't the NASA work force better prepared for this?" Bolden said. "You're looking at the guy who's responsible. I will take the heat."
Bolden, a former shuttle commander, said he did not listen to his advisers on how to present the information, and has spent the past few days apologizing to everyone. "I was stupid, I admit that. I didn't do it right," he said.
As for the future, Bolden said the country needs a big rocketship to carry heavy loads if astronauts are to venture beyond Earth's orbit. He said he wants to use the lessons of Constellation to capture new technologies and build that rocket.
"While we will phase out the Constellation program per se, I don't want to throw away the baby with the bath water," he said.
Bolden said he envisions such a rocket - capable of carrying astronauts to the moon, Mars or asteroids - ready to fly sometime between 2020 and 2030. He personally favors Mars.
Whatever the destination or rocket, the new way forward will be "significantly better than what we got rid of," Bolden said.
For more info:
CBS News space analyst Bill Harwood's "Space Place" updates
Space Shuttle Main Page (NASA)
International Space Station Main Page (NASA)