The space shuttle Discovery’s final launch was delayed again last night, thanks to an electronic glitch in the vehicle’s backup systems. NASA pushed back launch a full 24 hours, due to the issue, which was discovered earlier in the day.
The shuttle, originally scheduled for a 3:30 launch today, will now launch at the same time on Thursday. According to the official NASA statement, “The Prelaunch Mission Management Team wants to give engineers more time to look deeply into two electrical issues from a main engine computer controller that cropped up this morning.”
Discovery’s management team is set to meet again at 2 PM today, to make sure the shuttle is in fact ready a 3:30 launch. “Rather than rush the shuttle launch team through an analysis and launch cycle quickly,” NASA added, “[Prelaunch Mission Management Team chair, Mike] Moses said he opted to let the engineers work throughout the night on the issue without having to worry about an early morning tanking and Wednesday afternoon launch.”
This marks the third delay for the shuttle, which was initially scheduled to launch on November 1st. The mission, STA-133, will be the 39th and final flight for Discovery.
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