Astronauts Rest Up From Shuttle Launch Delays

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts have a reputation for their super-human commitment to a mission, but even spaceflyers like the shuttle Endeavor?s crew need a break once in a while - especially after the ?trying ordeal of five launch scrubs.

On both Sunday and Monday the crew boarded Endeavour and waited, lying on their backs in the small shuttle?s crew cabin for hours ?before their liftoff plans were foiled by weather.

Tuesday is a much-needed rest and recuperation day for the spaceflyers, who are due to try to blast off again Wednesday at 6:03 p.m. EDT (2203 GMT).

"Taking it easy today," commander Mark Polansky wrote Tuesday morning on Twitter. "Two scrubs in a row take a little out of you physically. I'll fly some shuttle landings tonight."

Polansky and pilot Doug Hurley plan to practice landing the space shuttle this evening by guiding a modified Gulfstream aircraft to the ground in simulated shuttle landings.

Endeavour's mission specialists - Canadian Julie Payette and NASA astronauts David Wolf, Chris Cassidy, Thomas Marshburn and Tim Kopra - are spending the day visiting with friends and family and studying up for their grueling 16-day space station construction mission.

The astronauts aren't the only ones who are tired. NASA's large ground workforce has been working for many days to prep the shuttle for each launch attempt and keep it in good shape for its eventual liftoff. Though they've been working hard, exhaustion hasn't set in yet, launch director Pete Nickolenko said.

"The team's postured and ready," Nickolenko said Monday night after the latest delay. "Certainly folks have been at it for a while. Actually I'd characterize the mood as still very positive because we were very close to making that attempt today. I still think that we are very confident and we?re ready to give it a shot for the attempt on Wednesday."

Yesterday was the fifth disappointment for a mission that has been held on the ground by persistent thunderstorms near Kennedy Space Center here and a gas leak on the shuttle that has since been repaired. The mission is slated to deliver the last piece of the space station?s Japanese Kibo lab during five spacewalks.

"Well, this isn't the tweet I hoped to send, but it's just not easy to launch a shuttle," Polansky wrote after Monday's scrub. "We're fine in spite of this, and we'll hope for Wed."

Though the delays are frustrating for everyone, especially the astronauts, it's the name of the game for such a complex endeavor.

"Obviously they're disappointed, but they understand," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said. "They've been training more than a year for this. If it takes a couple extra days to do the whole mission, I think they're okay with it. This is part of human spaceflight. After today they'll feel recharged, ready to go for launch."

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SPACE.com is providing continuous coverage of STS-127 with reporter Clara Moskowitz at Cape Canaveral and senior editor Tariq Malik in New York. Click here for mission updates and SPACE.com's live NASA TV video feed.