The space shuttle Endeavour will not be able to launch until next Tuesday at the earliest, NASA officials said Monday.
The shuttle, which will be commanded by Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), had been scheduled to take off Friday with Giffords and President Obama in attendance, but mechanical issues scuttled the launch. NASA had said the delay would last at least 42 hours, but Monday afternoon, the space agency said it would go on another week at least.
{mosads}”NASA space shuttle and International Space Station managers met Monday and determined that Tuesday, May 10, is the earliest Endeavour could be launched on the STS-134 mission,” NASA said in a statement. “That date is success oriented based on preliminary schedules to replace a faulty Load Control Assembly (LCA) box in the orbiter’s aft compartment.”
NASA said officials will make another assessment of the shuttle’s readiness later this week.
“Plans are for managers to reconvene Friday to determine a more definite launch date after the box is removed and replaced and the retest of systems has been completed,” NASA said.
Despite the Endeavour launch being scrubbed Friday, Obama and his family still visited Cape Canaveral. The president toured NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and visited with Giffords.
A spokeswoman for Giffords said she would likely be in attendance for the rescheduled launch.
“That’s the plan,” Giffords’ spokesman C.J. Karamargin told The Hill Monday. “The congresswoman is one of the most ardent supporters of the space programs in Congress. She wouldn’t miss it. And then there is the personal connection.”
Karamargin said Giffords has returned to Houston to continue her rehabilitation and would travel back to Cape Canaveral once the new Endeavour launch date is finalized.