National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday declared the space shuttle Endeavour for a second launch attempt on May 16 to deliver a pioneering physics experiment and spare parts to the International Space Station.
NASA was cancelled the launch of Endeavour Space Shuttle due to an electrical problem, particularly a short in the heater circuit linked with the orbiter’s hydraulic system. The problem led to the cancellation of the April 29 launch of Endeavour.
NASA Engineers traced the problem to an electronics box, A fresh box was installed last week, along with about 20 feet of new wiring that bypasses the original circuitry, just in case that’s where the problem began. The repair involved retesting other shuttle systems, including life support, environmental control and propulsion that draw power through the same electrical switching box
“We’ve kind of end-to-end checked and wrung out the whole system … and now have extremely high confidence that the problem is no longer in the ship or in any of the electronics,” said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team.
Atlantis, which will be carrying a last load of supplies for the station, had been targeted for launch on June 28. The mission likely will be delayed about two weeks.
Mission Commander Mark Kelly and his five-member crew are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy on May 12 for prelaunch preparations to spend 16 days in orbit to help prepare the station for operations after the shuttles are retired. Astronauts will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 – designed to search for various types of unusual matter - and critical supplies to the space station, including two communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional parts for the Dextre robot.
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