Endeavour Won't Launch Before Next Sunday
Sunday, May 1, 2011
By: Judith Smelser

May 1, 2011 | WMFE - Space Shuttle Endeavour will not begin her final flight until next Sunday at the earliest. NASA has to spend several days fixing a problem that cropped up a few hours before the first launch attempt on Friday.

NASA technicians are fairly sure the trouble lies with a switch box that controls the power feeds for dozens of components on the shuttle, including the heaters that failed during Friday’s countdown.  Workers now have to replace the switch box and then re-test everything affected by it.

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach says his staff is still upbeat.

“Little disappointed of course that we couldn’t launch,” he said, “but you know, responding to problems is one of the things we do best around here, and the team always likes a good challenge.”

The repairs and testing will take several days, and then NASA will start the full three-day launch countdown over from the beginning.  Mission managers plan to meet Monday or Tuesday to pick an exact target date for Endeavour’s final liftoff.