Updated at 5:19 p.m. ET (2119 GMT)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA mission
managers at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) delayed the planned Aug. 7 launch of
the space shuttle Endeavour by 24 hours Friday after being overwhelmed by
preflight checks, agency officials said.
"We
simply ran out of time," said NASA spokesperson George Diller
here at KSC of the tasks needed to prepare the orbiter for its wayward journey.
Endeavour
and its seven-astronaut crew are now set to launch Wednesday, Aug. 8 at about
6:36 p.m. ET (2236 GMT) on NASA's STS-118 mission to continue assembly of the
International Space Station (ISS).
Shortly
after the crew arrived at KSC via a private jet today, crew commander and veteran
spaceflyer Scott Kelly approved of the delay from the
tarmac.
"We
understand the decision to delay until Wednesday, and we agree with it
completely," Kelly said on behalf of the entire crew.
A
series of time-consuming preparation tasks contributed to postponing the
mission, Diller said.
Technicians
spent this week tracking a crew
cabin leak aboard Endeavour. The problem was eventually traced to a
pressure-releasing valve in the crew's cabin, which allows excess air to vent
from the shuttle to prevent over-pressurization. The faulty valve, however, let
off too much air during the tests.
"We
assumed we had leak test equipment problems, but the more we tested it in other
ways, we found that we really did have a leak," Diller
said.
By
Friday morning, shuttle engineers had repaired
and successfully retested the leak, but making the fix cost NASA precious
time leading up to the original Tuesday launch window.
With
extra time to go over Endeavour with a fine-toothed comb this weekend,
officials are confident they can launch the shuttle on Wednesday. Following
liftoff, the shuttle and its seven-astronaut STS-118
crew are expected to dock at the orbital laboratory two days later.
Once
there, Endeavour's crew will deliver a fresh load of cargo, spare parts and a
new starboard-side piece of the ISS during an 11-to-14-day mission.
The
flight also marks the first launch for teacher-turned-astronaut
Barbara Morgan, who first
joined NASA's ranks in 1985 as the backup for Teacher in Space Christa
McAuliffe. McAuliffe and six NASA astronauts died in January 1986 when their
space shuttle Challenger broke apart just after launch.
"I
thank … my colleagues in education all across the country," Morgan
said of her opportunity to become an astronaut.
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