After weeks
of repair work to plug a hydrogen leak on the space shuttle Endeavour, NASA is
now watching the weather for the spacecraft's planned Saturday launch.
Endeavour
has a 40 percent chance of good weather for its weekend
launch toward the International Space Station, though NASA is hopeful that
the potential for nearby thunderstorms and thick clouds will not hinder the
much-delayed construction flight.
"That is
always the remaining issue that we have," NASA test director Steve Payne said
of the weather in a Thursday briefing. "If there's a hole in the clouds, we'll go
for it. If not, then we'll go for it the next day. But we would rather get it
done on Saturday."
Endeavour
and a seven-astronaut
crew are currently slated to blast off Saturday evening at 7:39 p.m. EDT
(2339 GMT) from a seaside launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape
Canaveral, Fla. The countdown clock began ticking down toward liftoff late
Wednesday night.
Payne said
NASA has launched space shuttles with a 40 percent chance of good weather in
the past. The forecast will improve slightly on Sunday, though a recent trend
of afternoon thunderstorms is expected to continue.
"On launch
day we are expecting thunderstorms to affect the countdown, especially in the
afternoon," shuttle weather officer Todd McNamara said.
Endeavour's
mission has been delayed since mid-June due a hydrogen
gas leak that prevented two consecutive launch attempts. Engineers replaced
a misaligned connector plate and a vent line seal to plug the leak.
Commanded
by veteran spaceflyer Mark Polansky, Endeavour's six-man, one-woman crew is
slated to fly a marathon 16-day mission to the International Space Station. The
astronauts will ferry a new member of the station's six-man crew to the outpost
and deliver a porch-like
experiment platform - the last piece of Japan's massive Kibo lab - as well
as other spare parts. Five spacewalks are planned for the mission.
Also launching
on Endeavour are new solar array batteries, as well as a spare antenna, a
cooling system pump module and a drive unit for the station's railcar, said
Scott Higginbotham, NASA's payload manager. They will be attached to storage
platforms outside the station during the mission's spacewalks, he added.
Aside from
the vexing weather forecast, Endeavour appears to be in ship shape for
Saturday's launch attempt. Payne said the shuttle has no technical issues at
this time.
"Good
things come to those who wait," Higginbotham said. "It's time to go fly and
complete Kibo."
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