Nov 1, 2010 07:50 GMT  ·  By

Engineering teams at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, could now finish up with the repairs of space shuttle Discovery in due time, and so take off for the orbiter's final flight have been delayed one extra day, to November 3.

The shuttle is now scheduled to take off on Wednesday, at 3:52 pm EDT, or 1952 GMT, from Launch Pad 39A. This is the only facility in the country still capable of supporting an orbiter launch.

Two independent sets of leaks have plagued Discovery before its final mission to the International Space Station (ISS), designated STS-133, Space reports.

The first bunch took place about two weeks ago, where the second one was discovered last Thursday, on October 28. Hopes were high that repairs will be done on time, but complications did not allow for that plan to materialize.

The issues now affecting the shuttle are in some of its helium and nitrogen seals, which leak, and do not allow for pressurizing critical fuel lines powering and orbital maneuvering system pod.

“As we went through the day yesterday, we found that there were additional things we needed to do,” told reporters Jeff Spaulding, the NASA test director, on October 30.

“There was quite a bit more work we needed to do from a leak check perspective. As a result of that, we're a bit down on our timelines,” he added at the status briefing.

Even if the faulty seals have been dealt with, there is still the issue of re-pressurizing the orbital maneuvering system rocket engine aboard the orbiter, and this will take some time as well.

The shuttle still has some leeway as far as its launch schedule go. Its current launch window ends on November 7, and mission controllers can try for take-off every day until then.

The NASA shuttle weather officer, Kathy Winters, said in a briefing that the forecast for this week is looking good, with Discovery having a 70 percent chance of experiencing acceptable launch conditions until Sunday.

STS-133 will be the final flight for the shuttle, which is the oldest of the American space fleet. Only two more orbiter flights are scheduled, Endeavor in February 2011, and Atlantis no earlier than June 2011.

During this 11-day mission, Discovery will carry space parts and a space container to the ISS, and also the Robonaut 2 humanoid robot, which was designed by NASA in cooperation with General Motors.

The machine is very dexterous, and was developed to aid astronauts while out on spacewalks, and when dealing with heavy loads.

If this prototype unit handles well, then others might follow in the future, NASA says.