NASA said on Friday that the launch of space shuttle Endeavour will be no earlier than May 16. If Endeavour does launch on that day, lift off would be at 8.56 am, est, NASA officials said.
Endeavour’s launch was scrubbed on April 29, because of an issue associated with auxiliary power heaters. Shortly after the aborted launch, before an estimated 700,000 people who had crowded in Brevard County, a new launch date of May 10, had been set.
Today, NASA managers retargeted Endeavour’s launch for May 16.
Initially planned as a 14-day mission, Endeavour’s STS-134 mission to the International Space Station will now be 16 days. During the mission, Endeavour’s crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas and a high-pressure gas tank.
Endeavour will be commanded by Captain Mark Kelly, and 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.
