14 DAY TRIAL // In spite of the fact that the Weather Office at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida, announced just a couple of days ago that the weather had an 80-percent chance of being favorable, this wasn't really the case early on Sunday. A low-lying layer of clouds prevented the space shuttle Endeavor from lifting off on the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) at its scheduled time, 4:39 am EST (0939 GMT), on Sunday morning. As a result, a new launch attempt was scheduled for today, Space reports.
The decision to abort the launch attempt was taken after the astronauts were already strapped in inside the shuttle, but they understood the fact that their safety was not guaranteed if they were to launch. “We were just not comfortable with launching the space shuttle tonight so we're going to go into a 24-hour scrub. Thank you all for the effort you all put in tonight,” Mike Leinbach, the launch director at NASA, told the crew via radio. “You gave it a great try tonight. Sometimes you've got to just make the call. We understand and we'll give it another try tomorrow,” George Zamka, the commander of the new mission to the orbital facility, replied.
With this delay, NASA will only get a single more chance of launching Endeavor in this time frame. If today's planned take-off fails, then the crew will have to stand down for a few extra days. On February 9, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is scheduled to be launched from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), atop an Atlas 5 delivery system, so a couple of days will then be required for the tracking stations providing coverage to be reset. At this point, a new launch attempt is scheduled for 4:14 am EST (0914 GMT), on February 8.
According to weather officials, there is currently a 60-percent chance that the weather will be clear enough to allow for Endeavor to launch. This mission is critical, as it carries with it a number of components that are instrumental for the space station. In addition to the spare parts for the urine recycling system, the shuttle will also be delivering the newest module, Node 3 (Tranquility), and the seven-windowed observation deck Cupola, which will make it easier for astronauts to observe the Earth, and also to conduct delicate work using the ISS' two robotic arms.