Science News
NASA will try launch again early Sunday GMT, but weather still iffy
By DPA
Dec 9, 2006, 0:00 GMT

Washington - NASA has set 0147 GMT Sunday for its second attempt to launch the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS) - despite bad weather expectations.

A low cloud ceiling held in place by a cold front over the Florida launch pad was 'limiting chances for liftoff to 30 per cent,' NASA shuttle weather forecasters said Friday.

NASA postponed the first launch attempt slated for Thursday evening local time due to the cloud cover. The time in Florida for the new launch time is 8:47 pm Saturday.

A forecast for severe crosswinds at the Kennedy Space Centre weighed against a Friday attempt. More favourable weather conditions could arrive by Sunday or Monday evening local time.

The mission must begin by December 17.

Discovery's crew of seven astronauts is awaiting a 12-day construction mission to the International Space Station, orbiting 400 kilometres above the Earth.

The flight's primary mission is to hook up the ISS' permanent electricity generating system, replacing a temporary power system operating since the space station went into orbit in 1998. Two spacewalks are planned, each time to rewire half of the station.

Discovery crew member Christer Fugelsang of Sweden will become the first Scandinavian in space.

The flight will deliver astronaut Sunita Williams to replace German astronaut Thomas Reiter after five and a half months in residence on the space station, which has a rotating crew of three astronauts.

The launch would start the second working shuttle mission to the ISS since NASA returned to flight in summer 2005, after the Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in 2003.

NASA spent most of the last year testing new safety systems. A September flight by the Shuttle Atlantis marked the resumption of ISS construction work.

The mission will be the 33rd for Discovery and the 117th space shuttle launch since the programme began flying in 1981. With two catastrophic failures in its history, the shuttle fleet is slated to be mothballed after the scheduled completion of ISS construction in 2010.