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NASA delays launch to Sunday after lightning strikes
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 11 - 07 - 2009


NASA canceled
Saturday's launch attempt of space shuttle Endeavour on a
construction mission to the International Space Station to
assess possible damage from nearby lightning strikes, officials
said, according to Reuters.
Launch was reset for 7:13 p.m. EDT (2313 GMT) on Sunday.
The shuttle is carrying a porch for Japan's Kibo laboratory
that will be used to expose experiments to the open environment
of space.
NASA reported 11 lightning strikes less than a half-mile
(three-quarters of a km) from the launch pad.
"We need to be 100 percent confident that we have a good
system across the board," said Mike Moses, the shuttle program
manager at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The shuttle is protected from direct strikes by lightning
masts and wires that divert currents to the ground. The concern
is that related electromagnetic fields could trigger currents
in the shuttle's electrical systems.
"We see nothing so far that indicates anything was actually
affected by the lighting strikes, so I fully expect this to be
a positive story, but we have a lot of equipment that has to be
checked and that's what takes time," Moses said.
The delay is the third for Endeavour, which is scheduled to
spend 16 days in orbit.
NASA tried twice last month to launch Endeavour, but was
stymied by potentially dangerous hydrogen fuel leaks.
Engineers discovered a misalignment in a line that vents
hydrogen from the fuel tank as it is being filled. Technicians
made repairs and tested the work last week.
NASA is running out of time to finish the station and
retire the shuttle fleet by Sept. 30, 2010, as directed by
Congress. Managers say they will not compromise safety for the
schedule and will ask for an extension and more funding if
necessary to complete the outpost, a $100 billion project of 16
nations.
Including Endeavour's mission, the agency plans eight more
flights to the station.
After the shuttles are retired, U.S. astronauts will fly on
Russian Soyuz capsules and cargo will be delivered by Russian,
European and Japanese vehicles.
The station has been under construction 225 miles (360 km)
above Earth for more than a decade. It consists of nearly
26,000 cubic feet (735 cubic metres) of pressurized space,
about as much room as a typical four-bedroom house.
Endeavour carries the last parts for Japan's elaborate
three-part Kibo laboratory, including an open porch to expose
science experiments to the space environment.
The platform will be attached to the front of Japan's $2.4
billion Kibo complex during the first of five spacewalks
planned during Endeavour's 12-day stay at the station.
One of the Endeavour astronauts, Timothy Kopra, will remain
aboard the station, taking over the flight engineer's post from
Japan's Koichi Wakata, who has been in orbit since March.


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