Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Rescheduling Endeavour's Launch

Getting space shuttle Endeavour into space is more complex than simply fixing the auxiliary power unit that caused last week's delay. An Atlas 5 is scheduled to launch a satellite, which must be factored into Endeavour's schedule. ISS-- Endeavour's destination-- is also a busy place this month. A cargo ship will be docking, and a Soyuz undocking, and the STS-134 mission has to be fit in so it doesn't disrupt those activities.

NASA is currently looking to launch Endeavour May 10 or 11, but that could slip. If it does, it could potentially affect the launch date of Atlantis on the final shuttle mission, which is set for June 28.

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