NASA abruptly cancels shuttle launch; Monday liftoff scheduled

CAPE CANAVERAL — NASA abruptly cancelled the launch of the Space shuttle Endeavour on Friday, ruining what was a historic day filled with the emotion of critically injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as she saw her husband command of the Shuttle program next-to-last flight into space. By John Raoux, AP

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour leaves the operations and Checkout building aboard the orbiter before the launch was scrubbed due to technical problems.

By John Raoux, AP

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour leaves the operations and Checkout building aboard the orbiter before the launch was scrubbed due to technical problems.

A faulty thermostat on an auxiliary power unit delayed the launch for at least 72 hours. In the most optimistic scenario, launch Director Mike Leinbach said the earliest a shuttle could launch would 2: 33 pm Monday. NASA has until Wednesday to launch. If the attempt fails to start, by that time, the mission will be delayed until May 9 or 10 so that it does not conflict with other missions, including the launch of the Atlas V, a commercial rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, and detach from the Soyuz, Mike Moses, President of the shuttle mission management team.Giffords is disappointed by the delay, but realizes mission safety is a priority, her office said in a statement. "Launch delays are not uncommon with the space shuttle, "said the statement. "We look forward to the rapid redeployment of this scientific important mission."Giffords a meeting with President Obama and the first family, who toured Kennedy Space Center and a meeting with the crew and their families on Friday. By Charles Dharapak, AP

President Obama and his family member Astronaut Janet Kavandi under the undercarriage of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida

"Hopefully we can lure him back" for another launch, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana said.The astronauts remain in quarantine in their crew quarters or at a Beach House crew to a rescheduled launch. They can spend time family members who are medically cleared, said Cabana. It is unclear whether Giffords resides in Florida. her Office said that her travel plans are "Undetermined".Giffords, who is from a gunshot wound to the head, is recovering since Wednesday at the launch of the shuttle, which her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly command, in Cape Canaveral. Giffords not appeared in public since the attack of 8 January, and she left her Houston rehabilitation hospital for the first time to travel to Florida. They had expected to watch the liftoff in private, like the other astronaut families were.Friday scrubbing dramatically came close to liftoff on what looked like a near-flawless launch day: the crew of the space shuttle departed with a helicopter overhead and a SWAT vehicle in chase, NASA's operations center in an airstream trailer for the 10-minute trip to the launch pad when word: Launch of Endeavour is scrubbed.The shuttle had planned to start at 3: 47 p.m.Mission Board at 12: 16 pm decided to cancel the launch. The astronauts, fully clothed in their orange flight suits and a few minutes from aboard the shuttle, had their operations center only 11 minutes earlier abandoned.Obama and his family, travel of the destruction of the storm in Alabama to Florida for the launch, landed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, less than an hour later. Instead of watching the launch, she toured the Orbiter Processing Facility and had a close-up look at the shuttle Atlantis. The Atlantis will launch on the last mission of the space Shuttle program on June 28. The Endeavour astronauts, in an Airstream trailer called the Astrovan, were seconds of effort and less than three hours before a scheduled liftoff a 14-day mission to the International Space Station, when Friday launch was cancelled. The Astrovan abruptly turned around, making for the crew for at least 72 hours of hurry-up-and-wait. "You're bored, you're anxious, you've done all your training, and you're ready to go, "astronaut Rick Mastracchio says of the lead-up to the launch. "It is a slow time."A thermostat, one of the two used to have a fuel line to keep from freezing, is the culprit, Leinbach said. The auxiliary power units are fueled with hydrazine in orbit, which can freeze. The thermostats should feel the decrease of the temperature and stoves activate. "It was a hard failure. We couldn't get it to come to life regardless of what we did, "said Leinbach. another heater further along the line" funny behaviour was also exhibiting are, "he said."We do not want to commit to flight with only one stove, "who let the shuttle at risk for a frozen fuel line as the other thermostat failed, Leinbach said.Laying down the thermostat and ramping up again for the launch will take a minimum of three days, Leinbach said. If the problem is more extensive and includes a replacement of the switchbox that the powers of the lines, the launch would be faced additional delays, he said. Testing a replacement switch box includes two full days of tests, he said.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ 's. Report corrections and clarifications, contact standards Editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State for authentication. Our corrections, go to corrections. usatoday.com. We've updated the guidelines for the conversation. Changes include a brief overview of the monitoring process and an explanation about how to use the "report abuse" button. Read more.