NASA has scrubbed Endeavour's launch for a second time.
The decision came at 1:55 a.m., less than four hours before a planned 5:40 a.m. liftoff and minutes before the crew was scheduled to begin suiting up for launch.
Troubleshooting efforts could not stop a leak of hydrogen gas during fueling operations - the same problem that scrubbed Saturday's launch attempt.
There is no word yet about the next steps for the 16-day mission to the International Space Station.
If NASA wants to complete the full mission, it likely must wait until July 11.
An unmanned rocket carrying two satellites bound for the moon is set to launch later this week, blocking the shuttle from the range.
After Saturday, the sun's angle to the space station would not allow a full mission for several weeks.
A launch attempt could be made Sunday if NASA is willing to shorten the mission by a day, a plan that would eliminate the last of five spacewalks.
But it's not clear how long it might take to correct the launch pad problem that has now stalled Endeavour's launch twice, and scrubbed one attempt by Discovery in March.
Mission managers will hold a press conference "at a time to be determined" this morning to explain today's problem and discuss next steps.
A delay until July will have ripple effects on later missions, starting with Discovery's STS-128 mission, which had been targeted to launch Aug. 7.
If Endeavour were to fly July 11, Discovery would target an Aug. 20 launch.
1 comment:
well guess I'll go to sleep now. Was planning on staying up and watching the launch and NASA TV hasn't said anything yet
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