Space Shuttle Discovery Launch delayed again by NASA

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NASA has again delayed the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery, owing to some electrical problem. NASA’s decision came on early Tuesday, just before 24 hours of the scheduled time of the launch on Wednesday.

Previously, the space agency was forced to declare a two-day postponement for Discovery’s last trip due to gas leaks.

Launch director Mike Leinbach said that Discovery is giving them a little bit of trouble, but they are sure that she will fly perfectly.

The weather might be a reason for the delay of launch of Discovery. Forecasters said that there is 70 percent possibility of rain and even thunderstorms on Thursday that may hinder the liftoff of Discovery.

The electronic problem arises with Discovery early Tuesday when a backup controller one of the shuttle’s three main engines was slow in turning on. Voltage irregularities were also noted at that time. This compels the mission managers to put a hold on the launch of the space shuttle.

MikeMoses, chairman of the prelaunch mission management team, informed that some debris may have prevented the circuit breaker for the controller from making a solid contact.

We like to say we don’t fly with unknown risk and,right now, this risk is a little bit still unknown to us

, Moses told reporters. “We’re going to take another day to get to know it better.”

Three people moved to the young spacer station on Nov 2, 2000. Since then, they are living and working more than 200 miles above Earth. On its 39th voyage, Discovery will bring six visitors as well as thousands of pounds of supplies, including a humanoid robot.

Discovery, being the NASA’s oldest surviving shuttle had carried 180 individuals into orbit over its 26-year career. It has traversed 150 million miles and more than 5,600 orbits of Earth.