Shuttle's final launch delayed

The final scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery before being mothballed in a museum has been delayed for a fourth time due to bad weather, the latest in a series of delays for orbiter’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Heavy rain early on Thursday buffeted Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery had been rolled out to the launchpad after early glitches that postponed the launch three times earlier in the week were resolved.

‘There is a no-go for 24 hours because of the weather,’ a spokesman at space centre said.

Launch is now set for 3.04pm on Friday (0604 AEDT on Saturday), with weather forecasts showing a 60-per cent chance of favourable conditions, the US space agency said.

‘From a vehicle perspective, we are ready to go,’ said mission management team leader Mike Moses.

Although the weather has been favourable since Monday, rain rolled in just as the other glitches were solved, pushing back the launch, originally set for Monday, a fourth time.

‘It’s a lack of luck,’ said space centre spokesman Allard Beutel. ‘It did not rain for weeks here; that’s unusual.’

If Friday’s launch gets pushed back yet again, Sunday’s launch window has only a 40 per cent chance of favourable conditions.

The next launch window for the mission would come on December 1 and last only a few days.

Discovery’s 11-day mission was originally scheduled for November 1. Its all-American six-member crew, including female mission specialist Nicole Stott, will deliver a pressurised logistics module called Leonardo, which will be permanently attached to the space station to provide more storage space.

The shuttle will also bring Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space and a permanent addition to the orbiting space station, as well as spare parts.

Two space walks, for maintenance work and component installation, are scheduled.

The flight to the ISS is the fourth and final shuttle flight of the year, and the last scheduled for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet that is being retired next year.

‘Discovery is not going out easy,’ said shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach.

‘She is giving us a little bit of trouble but that is fine, she will fly perfectly when she does.’

The three US shuttles – the others are Atlantis and Endeavour – are due to be shipped off to museums after a final shuttle mission to the space station in late February next year.

That means Russian Soyuz spacecraft, a modernised version of which recently dropped off three fresh crew members to the ISS, doubling the crew to six, will for several years be the only vehicle for transporting humans into space.

However, NASA’s recently approved 2011 budget has left the door open to an additional shuttle flight in June next year.

Shuttle’s final launch delayed

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