Storms Force NASA to Aim for Wednesday Shuttle Launch

NASA will take another shot at launching the space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday after unexpected thunderstorms foiled an attempted liftoff earlier today.

Discovery and its seven-astronaut crew are now slated to blast off at 1:10 a.m. EDT (0510 GMT) to begin a 13-day trek to the International Space Station. The astronauts were already aboard the shuttle when NASA called off their launch early this morning.

Thunderstorms, rain and lightning were all concerns at different times during the attempted launch.

Fuglesang, who represents the European Space Agency, has been posting Twitter updates in English and Swedish under the moniker @CFuglesang during his mission training to reach out to the Swedish public. Likewise, his fellow crewmate Jose Hernandez of NASA is also "tweeting" in English and Spanish as @Astro_Jose. His first post after the delayed launch was also optimistic for Wednesday's launch chances.

Discovery has a 70 percent chance of good weather at launch time Wednesday morning, as well as for fueling later this afternoon, said Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett of the 45th Weather Squadron that watches over shuttle flight weather for NASA. Engineers plan to begin fueling Discovery's 15-story external tank at about 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT).

Discovery had an encouraging 80 percent chance of good conditions before thunderstorms rolled in to spoil Tuesday's launch attempt. Barrett told SPACE.com after the scrubbed launch try that some of the same weather patterns that led up to the storm delay today could arise for Wednesday's attempted liftoff.

Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Rick Sturckow, Discovery's six-man, one-woman crew plans to deliver a cargo pod packed with new science gear and supplies to the space station, as well as a new treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert.

NASA has until the end of August to launch Discovery before running into potential space traffic conflicts with Japan's first unmanned cargo ship and a Russian crew-carrying Soyuz spacecraft, both of which are due to launch toward the station in September.

If Discovery does not liftoff by Aug. 30, NASA may have to stand down to wait out the September flights, delaying its own mission to Oct. 17, mission managers have said. Read More

Check out the Shuttle Page at NASA.gov for more News

[SOURCE: SPACE.COM]