NASA ready to launch shuttle Endeavour
BEIJING. May 16. KAZINFORM NASA has readied the space shuttle Endeavour for its liftoff set for Monday, media reported Monday. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
Good weather looks 70 percent likely for Monday's scheduled launch of Endeavour, the next-to-last U.S. space shuttle mission as NASA develops a new generation of craft for longer voyages.
"The updated forecast Sunday for Monday's launch of the shuttle Endeavour remains unchanged with a 70 percent chance of good weather," said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.
Liftoff is set for 8:56 a.m. EDT (1256 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center for the trip to the International Space Station after the U.S. space agency repaired a technical glitch that canceled last month's launch attempt.
The initial April 29 launch attempt was scrubbed hours before liftoff when technicians discovered a power failure in a heating line that served to prevent fuel from freezing in orbit.
The six-member crew of astronauts including five Americans and one Italian, Roberto Vittori, will deliver a potent physics experiment to probe the origins of the universe during the mission, which will include four spacewalks. Kazinform refers to Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version