The final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour hit yet another snag as engineers battle to resolve an electrical problem that continues to delay the mission.
The launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, originally scheduled for April 29, is being pushed back for the 2nd time to "no earlier than May 16," said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.
If the shuttle launches on that day, liftoff would be at 8:56 a.m. EDT.
More extensive work is still needed to fix a faulty heater system in the engine compartment. The heaters keep fuel from freezing in the line, critical in preventing it from rupturing in the cold vacuum of space.
Technicians this weekend will continue to repair and retest the electrical system to determine what caused a circuit to short out.
NASA repair crews have already replaced a distribution box that shorted out a circuit supplying power to heaters for the orbiter's hydraulics system.
The NASA space shuttle was first scheduled for lift-off last Friday afternoon in its historic final flight, to deliver the $2bn Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector to the International Space Station.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/142397/20110506/nasa-delays-shuttle-launch-again.htm#ixzz1Ld1wXjru
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