Jun 15, 2009, 6:08 GMT
Washington - NASA is eying Wednesday to launch the delayed space shuttle Endeavour, but there could be a conflict with the send up of two moon-bound satellites, NASA officials said.
NASA officials plan to make a final decision Monday night, they said on Sunday.
Saturday's Endeavour launch to the space station from Cape Canaveral, Florida, was called off because of a leak during the fuelling process similar to one in March that delayed the launch of the Discovery shuttle.
If NASA decides to launch Endeavour on Wednesday, it would postpone the scheduled launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCOSS) to Friday or Saturday. The dual mission is the first step in putting humans back on the moon in NASA's next phase after the ageing shuttles are retired in 2010.
But if Endeavour is not ready on Wednesday, NASA officials said they would keep the moon launch on schedule and attempt to launch the shuttle on Saturday.
NASA postponed the Endeavour lift-off Saturday after it discovered that hydrogen was leaking from a vent line and had to empty the fuel tank containing liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
Endeavour is to carry seven astronauts on a 16-day mission to work on the assembly of the Japanese Kibo module, part of the International Space Station.
In the leak in March, NASA replaced a fuel venting valve and Discovery was able to launch after a delay.
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