Fergie's Tech Blog

Weather Forces Shuttle Launch Delay

Alan Boyle writes for MSNBC:

Threatening clouds near the launch pad forced a 24-hour postponement of Saturday's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery.

Discovery's seven astronauts were in their seats for their scheduled 3:48 p.m. ET departure for the international space station, but Florida's changeable weather frustrated the mission's first launch attempt. Anvil clouds, which could spark lightning during the launch, persisted within 23 miles of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in violation of launch rules.

The prime time for Sunday's launch opportunity comes at 3:26 p.m. ET. However, forecasters said they expected the weather outlook to worsen for Sunday and Monday. This month's launch window extends until July 19 — and if NASA misses this window, it will have to wait until late August to try again.

posted by Fergie @ 7/01/2006 12:58:00 PM