July 13, 2009 -- NASA faced the prospect of more stormy weather Monday as it tried for the fifth time to launch shuttle Endeavour to the international space station. Thunderstorms prevented Endeavour and seven astronauts from blasting off Sunday evening. Forecasters said there was a 60 percent chance the weather would force yet another delay Monday evening for the space station construction mission. "It's just not our day for the weather," launch manager Mike Moses said following the latest postponement. "We'll be ready," commander Mark Polansky said. NASA has until Tuesday, possibly Wednesday, to launch Endeavour with the final piece of Japan's space station lab. Otherwise, it will have to wait until the end of July because of a Russian supply ship that's awaiting liftoff. Sunday's countdown, at least, made it all the way to the nine-minute mark. Saturday's launch attempt was foiled several hours in advance by a series of lightning strikes around the pad that required extra checks of the many critical shuttle systems.
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Endeavour should have blasted off to the International Space Station in mid-June, but was grounded by a potentially dangerous series of hydrogen gas leaks. Repairs to a misaligned plate on the external fuel tank, which hooks up with a hydrogen vent line, solved the problem. The shuttle and its crew are set to deliver and install the third and final piece of Japan's $1 billion space station lab, named Kibo -- Japanese for hope. The first two sections flew up last year. Seven shuttle astronauts plus six station residents will make for the biggest crowd ever in orbit. Five spacewalks are planned during the 16-day flight. NASA has until Tuesday or possibly Wednesday to send up Endeavour before making way for the launch of an unmanned Russian supply ship. After that, the shuttle flight would be off until late July.
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