Shuttle Endeavour

Space shuttle Endeavour landed safely Sunday afternoon at California's Edwards Air Force Base after NASA waved off two opportunities for a Florida landing because of poor weather. Read Full Story

Lightning forced NASA to delay the space shuttle Endeavour's planned launch on Saturday by at least a day, the latest blow to the seven-astronaut mission. NASA announced the delay with just nine hours to go before liftoff, citing 11 lightning strikes near the Cape Canaveral launch site during a powerful electrical storm Friday evening. "The launch is scrubbed for at least 24 hours," NASA spokesman George Diller said. "This delay will give technical teams additional time to evaluate lightning... Read Full Story

The US space agency will make another attempt on Sunday to launch the space shuttle Endeavour after a dramatic lightning storm forced it to postpone the flight in the latest blow to the seven-astronaut mission. With just nine hours to go before lift off, NASA said the launch would be scrapped, citing 11 lightning strikes near the Cape Canaveral launch site during a powerful electrical storm late Friday. "We decided we are going to take 24 more hours to continue to review our data," said Mike... Read Full Story

The space shuttle and space station hooked up Friday after a round-the-world chase, making for the biggest crowd ever gathered together in orbit — 13 Earthlings. Endeavour docked at the international space station as the two craft soared 220 miles above the Australian coast. Once the hatches popped open, the seven shuttle astronauts floated into the space station, one by one, and embraced their six station colleagues. It was a bit of a mob scene, a floating jumble of dark shirts, beige pants... Read Full Story

The US space agency will make another attempt on Sunday to launch the space shuttle Endeavour after a dramatic lightning storm forced it to postpone the flight in the latest blow to the seven-astronaut mission. With just nine hours to go before liftoff, NASA said the launch would be scrapped, citing 11 lightning strikes near the Cape Canaveral launch site during a powerful electrical storm late Friday. "We decided we are going to take 24 more hours to continue to review our data," said Mike... Read Full Story

NASA is poised to try to get the Endeavour space shuttle off the ground and into orbit on Wednesday, after bad weather and technical trouble blighted five previous launch attempts. Fueling of Endeavour's massive external fuel tank, which began at 8:38 am (1238 GMT), showed no early signs of problems, but experts noted that the same rainy weather systems that hampered prior attempts continue to linger in the area. "The weather is looking better but I am being a little bit optimistic -- it's... Read Full Story

With a positive weather forecast and no reports of technical problems, conditions looked good Sunday for NASA's fourth attempt to launch the space shuttle Endeavour. NASA topped off the shuttle's external fuel tanks as it readied for the launch, which was pushed back a day to Sunday after a lightning storm forced the latest postponement of the mission. Experts conducting exhaustive tests discovered no damage to the shuttle or its electrical systems after lightning struck the Kennedy Space... Read Full Story

NASA scrubbed space shuttle Endeavour's scheduled launch Saturday after nine lightning strikes were reported near the pad. NASA technicians said they found no damage, but will need another day to check critical systems. The launch had been scheduled for Saturday night. The next launch attempt will be at 7:13 p.m. Sunday. Endeavour should have blasted off to the international space station in mid-June, but was grounded by potentially dangerous leaks of hydrogen gas. Repairs to a misaligned... Read Full Story

NASA scrubbed a fifth attempt to launch the space shuttle Endeavour due to stormy weather Monday, and said it would prepare for a sixth attempt early Wednesday evening. The launch had been scheduled for 6:51 pm (2251 GMT) Monday, but unsettled weather, including nearby late-day thunderstorms, forced NASA to abort the countdown. "Again, the vehicle and our team were ready but the weather just bit us again, with the lightning within 20 nautical miles and within our violation of launch weather... Read Full Story

A storm system forming around 36 kilometers (22.4 miles) away from the space shuttle Endeavour's launch pad could force the cancellation of the launch Sunday, a NASA official said. "A storm coming from the northwest could be an issue for an emergency return of the shuttle," said Mike Curie, an official commentator for NASA television. "For the time being, it's a no-go for a launch," he said. The takeoff was scheduled for 7:13 pm (2313 GMT) and NASA television showed the shuttle's seven... Read Full Story