Endeavor

Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled for its final launch April 29. Once again, the launch has been delayed more than once. Launch delays have been a consistent weakness of the shuttle program. Sometimes delays have been due to the fickle Florida weather, but more often they've reflected the complexity of the technology involved in the shuttle program. Even though the innards of the orbiters have been updated over the program's thirty year run, the basic system has not changed, and it is that complexity that both allowed the shuttle to fly at all and kept it from becoming the regular launch service originally promised. Today, several private companies are working to develop commercial, dependable launch systems. They are trying to keep the systems as simple as possible.