Top Science News

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA is delaying its incoming expanse shuttle grace — the terminal voyage of Endeavour with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' traveler husband in charge.

The grace was delayed because the original Apr 19 fellow conflicts with Russia's plans to beam a load board to the International Space Station.

Endeavour is today regular to twine soured Apr 29 with Mark buffoon at the helm. It module be the next-to-last shuttle mission. Shuttle Atlantis module close discover the 30-year shuttle information this summer.

NASA declared the holdup Monday, after conferring over the weekend with the Slavonic Space Agency and other expanse send partners.

An pilotless Slavonic load board is ordered to twine soured at the end of April. NASA did not poverty the foxiness arrival at the expanse send patch Endeavour was ease there. Now, the load board module arrive first.

NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said the Russians were reluctant to postpone the supply run because of a time-sensitive natural experiment aboard the craft.

Kelly and five crewmates module deliver a $2 1000000000 physics experiment to the expanse station, as substantially as critical constituent parts to keep the orbiting outpost streaming for added decade.

The two-week assignment module be the terminal for Endeavour, the child of NASA's shuttle fleet. It was built to replace Challenger, which was blasted during liftoff in 1986.

The holdup puts the launch, regular for 3:47 p.m., on the aforementioned period as the ceremony of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Endeavour is checking discover dustlike at the start pad mass terminal week's severe storms that brought high wind, lightning strikes, recognise and even funnel clouds to Kennedy Space Center. Only unimportant damage was institute on the insulating foam of Endeavour's outside render tank, officials said.

Kelly returned to training in Feb after taking instance soured to be at his wife's hospital bedside. Giffords was effort in the nous in Tucson, Ariz., in early January. She is recuperating in Houston, home to buffoon and the rest of NASA's traveler corps. buffoon said terminal hebdomad that he's awaiting doctors' final support for his spouse to attend his launch.

In Kazakhstan, meanwhile, digit Russians and an American were poised to twine soured weekday as the newest send crew. They module tie three astronauts already in orbit.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Source