Tower Roll Still Stalled; Launch Still Go!

Shuttle Endeavour and six astronauts remain scheduled to launch Friday afternoon despite stormy weather that has delayed retraction of the giant service structure at launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

The Rotating Service Structure at launch pad 39A might not back away from the Endeavour until midnight, but NASA officials say the delay will not preclude an on time launch at 3:47 p.m. Friday. Stalled prelaunch preparations can be worked simultaneously with other jobs, and at this point, NASA expects to be able to make a launch attempt on Friday.

The worst of the weather is over the Atlantic Ocean now, and we expect cloudy conditions at the time engineers start fueling the external tank at 6:22 a.m. The weather is expected to clear during the course of theday and be acceptable for launch at 3:47 p.m. Friday.