KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.—NASA scrubbed the scheduled launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday because of a heater failure.
Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said in a briefing that another heater was also "exhibiting some funny behavior." He said he suspected that the problems lay in one of the heaters' switch boxes, possibly resulting from a short circuit. National Aeronautics and Space Administration technicians will be examining the equipment as soon as they can get access to it, which likely won't be until Friday night, Mr. Leinbach said.
As a result, he said, the launch would be rescheduled for Monday at the earliest, one day later than NASA's original estimate of the earliest new date.
The Endeavour crew was on its way to the launch pad when the announcement was made.
The shuttle program's next-to-last mission has drawn even more interest because of the expected attendance of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and President Barack Obama and his family. Ms. Giffords's husband, Mark Kelly, is commanding Endeavour.
Strong thunderstorms moved through the area on Thursday evening, and NASA raised the chances of unfavorable weather at launch time to 30%. Though cloud cover remained on Friday, the storms had subsided. NASA officials had said the only remaining weather concerns were low cloud cover and strong winds.
Another hitch arose on Friday morning when the fuel tank pressure in one of the rocket engines exceeded acceptable limits. NASA technicians resolved that problem.
Until the new problem, with the heaters, cropped up, launch preparations had been proceeding as planned. Fueling of the external tank with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was completed a little before 9:30 a.m.
The space center is preparing for the arrival of a host of dignitaries. Apart from Ms. Giffords and the Obama family, those expected to attend include members of Congress, past NASA administrators and space industry VIPs. In all, NASA expects 45,000 people at the space center, 5,000 more than attended Discovery's liftoff in February.
Outside the NASA grounds, throngs of tourists have been descending on the Cape Canaveral area. Tourism officials expect as many as 700,000 people to be on hand for the launch. Shuttle aficionados have been cramming into any available strip of coastline to angle for a view of the blastoff of Endeavour, named for a British ship that traversed the South Pacific in 1768.
Doug and Christine Lane and their three children opted for an opening beside a string of RVs on the causeway connecting Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island. Driving overnight from Haines City, Fla., they arrived at 3 a.m. on Friday, intent on witnessing an important moment in history.
"We wanted our kids to be able to look back one day and say they were here," said Mr. Lane.
Since the huge crowds were expected to clog highways well into the evening, the family came equipped with plenty of provisions: beach chairs, boogie boards, fishing poles and food and drinks for three days.
Endeavour's six crew members are slated to perform numerous duties during their two-week mission, when it gets off the ground. They will deliver a sophisticated particle detector to the International Space Station, conduct four spacewalks and perform maintenance on the station.
Once the orbiter returns from space, it will be retired and eventually transported to its final resting place at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said in a briefing that another heater was also "exhibiting some funny behavior." He said he suspected that the problems lay in one of the heaters' switch boxes, possibly resulting from a short circuit. National Aeronautics and Space Administration technicians will be examining the equipment as soon as they can get access to it, which likely won't be until Friday night, Mr. Leinbach said.
As a result, he said, the launch would be rescheduled for Monday at the earliest, one day later than NASA's original estimate of the earliest new date.
The Endeavour crew was on its way to the launch pad when the announcement was made.
The shuttle program's next-to-last mission has drawn even more interest because of the expected attendance of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and President Barack Obama and his family. Ms. Giffords's husband, Mark Kelly, is commanding Endeavour.
Strong thunderstorms moved through the area on Thursday evening, and NASA raised the chances of unfavorable weather at launch time to 30%. Though cloud cover remained on Friday, the storms had subsided. NASA officials had said the only remaining weather concerns were low cloud cover and strong winds.
Another hitch arose on Friday morning when the fuel tank pressure in one of the rocket engines exceeded acceptable limits. NASA technicians resolved that problem.
Until the new problem, with the heaters, cropped up, launch preparations had been proceeding as planned. Fueling of the external tank with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was completed a little before 9:30 a.m.
The space center is preparing for the arrival of a host of dignitaries. Apart from Ms. Giffords and the Obama family, those expected to attend include members of Congress, past NASA administrators and space industry VIPs. In all, NASA expects 45,000 people at the space center, 5,000 more than attended Discovery's liftoff in February.
Outside the NASA grounds, throngs of tourists have been descending on the Cape Canaveral area. Tourism officials expect as many as 700,000 people to be on hand for the launch. Shuttle aficionados have been cramming into any available strip of coastline to angle for a view of the blastoff of Endeavour, named for a British ship that traversed the South Pacific in 1768.
Doug and Christine Lane and their three children opted for an opening beside a string of RVs on the causeway connecting Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island. Driving overnight from Haines City, Fla., they arrived at 3 a.m. on Friday, intent on witnessing an important moment in history.
"We wanted our kids to be able to look back one day and say they were here," said Mr. Lane.
Since the huge crowds were expected to clog highways well into the evening, the family came equipped with plenty of provisions: beach chairs, boogie boards, fishing poles and food and drinks for three days.
Endeavour's six crew members are slated to perform numerous duties during their two-week mission, when it gets off the ground. They will deliver a sophisticated particle detector to the International Space Station, conduct four spacewalks and perform maintenance on the station.
Once the orbiter returns from space, it will be retired and eventually transported to its final resting place at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.