NASA on Sunday delayed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour at least until the end of the week as work continues to resolve an electronics problem that scuttled Friday's launch attempt, officials said.
NASA tried to launch Endeavour on Friday on its 25th and final flight to deliver the $2 billion (1 billion pounds) Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector to the International Space Station.
A problem with a heating system on one of the ship's hydraulic power generators prompted managers to stop the countdown. The heaters keep fuel from freezing in the line, preventing it from rupturing in the cold vacuum of space.
NASA was hopeful that the problem would have an easy solution and retargeted Endeavour's launch for Monday, but said another attempt would not happen before the end of the week, at the earliest.
"The trouble-shooting that was done overnight doesn't seem to indicate that it's one of the simple things," NASA spokesman Mike Curie said.
Replacing and retesting an electronics box in the shuttle's engine compartment would take several days. The flight would not be rescheduled until after Friday's planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with a Defence Department missile-warning satellite from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Endeavour's six astronauts were headed back to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston for a few days of additional training before they return for the next launch attempt, NASA said.
The mission is the next-to-last for the 30-year-old shuttle program, which is ending after sister ship Atlantis completes its final voyage this summer.
NASA tried to launch Endeavour on Friday on its 25th and final flight to deliver the $2 billion (1 billion pounds) Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector to the International Space Station.
A problem with a heating system on one of the ship's hydraulic power generators prompted managers to stop the countdown. The heaters keep fuel from freezing in the line, preventing it from rupturing in the cold vacuum of space.
NASA was hopeful that the problem would have an easy solution and retargeted Endeavour's launch for Monday, but said another attempt would not happen before the end of the week, at the earliest.
"The trouble-shooting that was done overnight doesn't seem to indicate that it's one of the simple things," NASA spokesman Mike Curie said.
Replacing and retesting an electronics box in the shuttle's engine compartment would take several days. The flight would not be rescheduled until after Friday's planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with a Defence Department missile-warning satellite from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Endeavour's six astronauts were headed back to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston for a few days of additional training before they return for the next launch attempt, NASA said.
The mission is the next-to-last for the 30-year-old shuttle program, which is ending after sister ship Atlantis completes its final voyage this summer.
