Weather delays shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Thunderstorms forced NASA to call off the launch of space shuttle Discovery on Saturday, a flight already tense over worries that foam could fall from the external fuel tank and endanger the mission.

Another attempt at what would be the first shuttle launch in a year was planned for today, although bad weather was forecast to continue through the Independence Day weekend.

Storm clouds moved in and out of the launch zone throughout the morning and early afternoon, posing the threat of lightning. As the countdown held at the nine-minute mark, it became clear the weather would not improve, and launch director Mike Leinbach announced a 24-hour delay.

The seven astronauts aboard the fueled spaceship immediately halted launch procedures. “It wasn’t our time today,” shuttle commander Steven Lindsey radioed from the cockpit. “We’ll launch when we’re ready and, hopefully, tomorrow will look better.”

The delay was a disappointment for NASA, which last flew the shuttle last July and was eager to get flights to the international space station back on track.

The only technical problem that arose during the countdown was a failed heater for one of Discovery’s thrusters, needed to keep the fuel from freezing. Mission managers decided to proceed with the launch, since the thruster was not needed during liftoff, and work around the problem in orbit.

As it has been since the Columbia disaster, the overriding concern remained the foam insulation on the external fuel tank.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin decided to proceed with the 12-day mission despite the concerns of two top agency managers who wanted additional foam repairs.

“We now have a NASA in which senior officials feel free to discuss and debate openly complex, difficult and subtle technical topics that affect the flight,” Griffin said Saturday. “No matter what decision I made, I would have been disappointing somebody.”