Space Shuttle launch postponed to Monday
The Endeavor space shuttle was set for launch Friday afternoon and has been delayed 72 hours later on Monday afternoon in Arizona due to heater failure. NASA stopped the countdown of the STS-134 just as Commander Mark Kelly and his crew were on their way to the launch pad.
Today’s launch was to be the final ride into space for space shuttle Endeavor from the Kennedy Space Center. The launch was scrubbed for the day about four hours before the shuttle was supposed to launch. During the two-week mission, the Endeavor is scheduled to visit the International Space Station delivering an EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-3 and al Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, along with other supplies.
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According to reports, NASA reported earlier that two heaters on an auxiliary power unit were not working and because engineers weren’t able to fix the problem, the shuttle launch was rescheduled. The launch can be followed in real time on NASA TV, or on the Internet at NASA.gov.
Cmdr. Kelly is also married to wounded Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and was in attendance to watch the shuttle launch. Officials were expecting crowds of upwards of 750,000 to watch the launch, including the Obama family in attendance.
"The last flight of each of these vehicles is very bittersweet for all of us that have invested so much of our time and careers into these flights," says shuttle lead flight controller Gary Horlacher.
