CAPE CANAVERAL – Nasa yesterday delayed for the second time the launch of space shuttle Endeavour to no earlier than May 8th as work continues to resolve an electronics problem that scuttled Friday’s launch attempt.
Endeavour’s mission is to deliver the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector to the International Space Station.
The agency was hopeful that the problem encountered on Friday would have an easy solution and had retargeted Endeavour’s launch for today, but further trouble-shooting indicated the glitch was more complicated than officials hoped.
Workers will replace a microwave-sized electronics box, located in the shuttle’s rear engine compartment, which routes power to the heaters.
“We know the power is not getting through, so there’s a short or a failure in the switching box,” said launch director Mike Leinbach. – (Reuters)