NASA Postpones Shuttle Atlantis Launch Until Friday

Source URL: http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-06-voa17.cfm
Posted at: http://www.air-attack/com/news/news_article/2071

The U.S. space agency now says it has postponed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis until Friday.

NASA had planned to launch Atlantis Wednesday on an 11-day mission. But the launch was delayed due to a problem with a fuel cell used to provide electricity to the shuttle.

Atlantis was originally set to depart last month, but bad weather caused a series of postponements.

Space agency engineers hope to launch Atlantis this week so that long-delayed work on the International Space Station can resume. Construction stopped after the shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003 forced a long moratorium on shuttle flights.

Failure to launch the shuttle this week could delay the mission until October.

Astronauts on the mission are expected to attach a 17-ton addition to the space station. It will include a new set of giant solar energy panels that will reach 80 meters in length when fully unfurled.

The launch schedule date is dictated by the need to avoid conflict with a planned September 14 Russian Soyuz launch with a new Russian-American space station crew.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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