"Theres not any particular reason to rush this launch," said James Hartsfield, a spokesman for NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Technically, the shuttle can be ready on the 31st. But were trying to take into account the lessons we learned from Discoverys recent launch."
Discovery and a crew of seven astronauts took off December 19 on a mission that marked a return to flight for NASAs shuttle program after a five-month grounding for extensive wiring inspections.
A series of wiring and other technical problems, however, were uncovered late in the launch campaign, forcing NASA to delay the flight six times in December alone.
With that in mind, NASA has been negotiating with the Air Forces Eastern Range for alternative launch dates in early February with an eye toward flying the Endeavour mission around February 10.
A widespread network of ground stations, the Eastern Range provides range safety, rocket tracking and launch scheduling services for all flights taking off from KSC and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Station.
As it stands now, though, the Air Force plans to conduct a series of range safety system upgrades between February 7 and February 18, effectively negating any launch opportunities during that time frame.
Complicating matters is the fact that Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Co. already have booked commercial satellite delivery missions on February 3 and February 6, respectively.
"The range maintenance issues present a hurdle that were talking to the Air Force about," Hartsfield said.
In any case, Endeavours astronauts arrived at KSC Tuesday for what amounts to a dress rehearsal for the upcoming launch of a mission to make a three-dimensional radar map of Earth.
As part of a standard crew training exercise, the astronauts will board Endeavour at KSCs launch pad 39-A Friday for the last three hours of a two-day practice countdown.
Led by veteran astronaut Kevin Kregel, the astronauts also will take part in emergency training at the launch pad on Thursday.
The so-called Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test is a highly anticipated milestone for all shuttle flight crews. The drill gives the astronauts a chance to work with the launch team at KSC and climb aboard the ship theyll fly into space.
Coming on the heels of 18 months of training, the exercise also is a clear sign that launch of a particular mission is imminent.
"I was told this is the time to get excited, and I can tell you it is true Im getting excited," rookie astronaut Gerhard Thiele of the European Space Agency told 27 reporters gathered for the crews arrival at KSC.
"Now we are coming close to launch, but before that, we are having final training here at KSC," added Mamoru Mohri of the Japanese Space Agency. "Im very much looking forward to and very much proud to be a part of such a great mission."
Rounding out the crew is pilot Dom Gorie, payload commander Janice Voss and mission specialist Janet Kavandi.
Flying the first human space expedition of the new millennium, the crew will deploy a 200-foot radar antenna from the base of Endeavours cargo bay during a mission scheduled to last 11 days.
Considered the largest rigid structure ever raised in space, the antenna will enable the orbiting cartographers to assemble the most accurate and comprehensive topographical map ever made of planet Earth.
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