Washington- The space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to launch Wednesday after a hydrogen leak in its fuel tank postponed its planned takeoff over the weekend, NASA said Monday. The new date was set after a meeting in which NASA officials had to balance the needs of the Endeavour launch with the firing of an Atlas V rocket carrying two moon-bound satellites that was to have taken place Wednesday.
Instead, Endeavour is scheduled to blast off at 5:40 am (0940 GMT) Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCOSS) will now launch on Thursday evening, with the first opportunity at 5:12 pm (2112 GMT). The dual mission is the first step in putting humans back on the moon in NASA's next phase after the ageing shuttles are retired in 2010.
NASA postponed the Endeavour lift-off Saturday after it discovered that hydrogen was leaking from a vent line and had to empty the fuel tank containing liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The problem was similar to one in March that delayed the launch of the Discovery shuttle.
Endeavour is to carry seven astronauts on a 16-day mission to work on the assembly of the International Space Station's Japanese Kibo module. The crew is to install a porch for experiments outside the space station, bring spare equipment and conduct other repairs during five planned spacewalks.
In the leak in March, NASA replaced a fuel venting valve and Discovery was able to launch after a delay.
