Washington - Poor weather could hamper the planned launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on Saturday. NASA forecasters predicted a 40-per-cent chance that the shuttle will be able to lift off as planned with thunderstorms threatening the launch, even as the countdown continues and the spacecraft seems to be cooperating with no technical issues.
"All systems are in excellent shape," NASA Test Director Steve Payne said. "The STS-127 flight crew, Endeavour and launch team are ready to go."
Endeavour is set to take off at 7:39 pm (2339 GMT) Saturday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida after a slew of delays kept the craft on the ground for weeks.
Last month, NASA was forced to postponed the launch twice in just four days, after technicians detected hydrogen gas leaks during fuelling, just hours before scheduled liftoff. The problem was similar to a malfunction in March that delayed the launch of the Discovery shuttle.
Endeavour is to bring an outside component to complete the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station.
