"NASA management has shown that their Number One concern is safety," Endeavour mission commander Kevin Kregel told reporters at Kennedy Space Center Thursday. "Theres nothing more important than safety, and we certainly dont want to go until we have a good vehicle."
Mission specialist Mamoru Mohri, a Japanese astronaut who will be making his second shuttle flight, said from his perspective the delay was relatively short.
"Just compare this to my previous mission," Mohri said. "I waited because of the big accident of Challenger for more than four years no seven years, actually so in comparison to that, four months is not very long."
Kregel and his crew which also includes pilot Dom Gorie, payload commander Janice Voss, flight engineer Janet Kavandi and mission specialist Gerhard Thiele of the European Space Agency are at KSC this week for a two-day practice countdown.
The astronauts went through emergency training at KSCs launch pad 39A Thursday and will climb aboard Endeavour Friday for what amounts to a launch-day dress rehearsal.
Earlier Thursday, senior shuttle program managers decided to continue gearing up for an Endeavour launch attempt between 12:47 p.m. EST and 2:57 p.m. EST Jan. 31.
Mission managers had considered delaying the launch to give ground crews extra time to complete final launch preparations and wiring inspections in the shuttles rear engine compartment. Preparations for a Jan. 31 launch attempt, however, have been moving along without problems.
"As it stands now, the work at the launch pad is going very well were right on schedule," said KSC spokesman Joel Wells. "So were in good shape, and the launch team is confident in our readiness to support a Jan. 31 launch date."
The Jan. 31 launch date is expected to be made official at a traditional flight readiness review to be held at KSC next Tuesday.
Should weather or technical problems delay Endeavours flight beyond Feb. 1, NASAs next opportunity to the launch the shuttles 11-day radar mapping mission would not come until Feb. 9 at the earliest.
The reason: A pair of commercial satellite-delivery missions now are scheduled to launch from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Station in early February.
A Lockheed Martin Atlas rocket is scheduled to launch a commercial communications satellite Feb. 3 and also has Feb. 4 booked for a back-up launch opportunity.
A Boeing Delta rocket, meanwhile, is scheduled to launch four Globalstar cellular telephone satellites on Feb. 6 and also has Feb. 7 booked for a back-up opportunity.
It typically takes 36 to 48 hours to reset rocket tracking and range safety systems at launch support ground stations between flights from Floridas Space Coast.
The stack-up of scheduled space missions, meanwhile, prompted the Air Force Thursday to reschedule modernization work at its Eastern Range, a widespread network of ground stations that provide rocket tracking and range safety services for all Space Coast launches.
The upgrade work had been scheduled between Feb. 8 and Feb. 23, effectively blocking out launch opportunities during that time frame. The work now is scheduled to be carried out between Feb. 28 and March 17.
NASA officials had considered moving Endeavours flight to February after a string of frustrating 11th-hour delays with the launch last month of shuttle Discovery.
Discovery and seven astronauts took off Dec. 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 within Discoverys rear engine compartment late in that launch campaign, forcing NASA to delay the flight six times in December alone.
Extensive inspections within Endeavours engine compartment began Thursday and will continue through Jan. 28. A three-day launch countdown is scheduled to begin that same day, but after the experience with Discovery last month, Kregel said his crew is ready to take any additional delay in stride.
"Weve got a good vehicle and were ready to go on January 31," the veteran shuttle skipper said. "If something comes between now and Jan. 31 that delays (the launch), thats okay. Well know every morning that were one day closer to launch whatever that date might be."
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