Weather delays shuttle return by a day
August 8, 2005NASA delayed the Shuttle Discovery's return to Earth for one day Monday because of unstable weather conditions in Florida.
Commander Eileen Collins was given the scrub order from mission controllers at 5:00 a.m. ET, about 90 minutes before the shuttle was slated to begin re-entry. Controllers said the next opportunity to land at Cape Canaveral would be 5:08 a.m. Tuesday.
The seven astronauts were undergoing final systems checks as the end of their 13-day journey neared on Monday, CNN reported.
There are several other opportunities to land Tuesday, including two at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in California. However, officials would prefer to land in Florida to avoid the inconvenience of flying the shuttle back to its launch site from alternative landing strips.
The astronauts must land before Wednesday, when their supply of oxygen will run out.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
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