CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - The odds are improving for NASA's planned Friday launch of
the space shuttle Endeavour as weather concerns dipped slightly today, mission
managers said.
Endeavour has
a 70 percent chance, a slight increase from Tuesday, of launching
toward the International Space Station Friday night at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055
Nov. 15 GMT), said Kathy Winters, NASA's shuttle weather officer.
The
potential for thick clouds and nearby rain showers from an approaching cold
front remain the only threat, but the weather should hit NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport
here in earnest on Saturday, she added.
"We should
be a little bit drier tomorrow, but even so that is definitely our main concern
for launch," Winters said in a morning briefing.
The weather
forecast worsens on Saturday, with rain and clouds expected to reduce Endeavour's
launch chances to just 30 percent. Thick clouds pose a potential lightning risk
to a shuttle during launch, while clear skies are required around NASA's
Shuttle Landing Facility in case of an emergency landing.
Commanded
by veteran shuttle flyer Chris Ferguson, Endeavour's
seven-astronaut crew is gearing up for a planned 15-day mission to the
space station.
The
astronauts are ferrying a new member of the station's three-person crew and
delivering a host of
new equipment that will allow the outpost to support larger, six-person
crews next year. The new equipment includes a space refrigerator and second
kitchen, extra bathroom, two new bedrooms, extra gym equipment and a water
recycling system to turn urine and waste water into a fresh drinking supply.
Four
spacewalks are planned for the mission to clean and grease up a damaged solar
array gear designed to rotate like a paddlewheel to track the sun. The
starboard side gear has been jammed with metal grit since last year, though a
portside version is working fine.
Engineers
will load the final bits of cargo aboard Endeavour later today and are due to
roll back the shuttle's protective Rotating Service Structure late tonight at
about 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 Nov. 14 GMT).
"All of our
systems are in good shape," said NASA Test Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.
"Endeavour is ready to go."
NASA hopes to launch Endeavour by Nov. 21 to avoid docking conflicts at the space station with an Russian Progress cargo ship slated to launch later this month. The shuttle flight's launch window closes on Nov. 25 due to unfavorable sun angles and heating concerns at the space station.
Endeavour's
STS-126 mission will mark NASA's fourth shuttle flight of the year and the second to
blast off at night. The same space shuttle launched into the predawn Florida
sky during a March flight to the space station. About one-fourth of NASA's 123
shuttle missions to date have launched at night.
"It's going
to be a beautiful sight," Blackwell-Thompson said.
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