NASA has scrubbed the launch of space shuttle Endeavour because of an issue associated with Auxiliary Power heaters. Endeavour was scheduled to liftoff at 3:47 pm, est on Friday, before some 700,000 people who were expected to crowd into Brevard County.
NASA said, there will be at least a 72-hour scrub turnaround while engineers assess the technical issue. A second attempt at lift off will not be before Monday.
President Obama and the first family, along with a few foreign dignitaries, were also scheduled to travel to Florida on Friday to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. While at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the Obamas were expected to tour the Orbiter Processing Facility and then view the launch.
On Wednesday, Endeavour shuttle Commander Mark Kelly’s wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is still recovering from a gunshot to the head, traveled to Kennedy Space Center to observe the launch. Giffords was critically injured in January earlier this year, after a lone gunman, opened fire, killing six people including Tucson’s Chief federal Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl, Cristina Greene.
It is unclear whether Obama or Giffords will be present when Endeavour lifts off.
In addition to shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, the other crew members are, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.
