August 3, 2007

Sciencedude: OC astronaut’s trip into space delayed a day

Gary Robbins

ONE DAY DELAY

Cal State Fullerton grad Tracy Caldwell will have to wait until at least Wednesday for her first trip into space. NASA managed to replace a faulty valve on space shuttle Endeavour, but not in time to stay on schedule for a launch on Tuesday, as originally planned. Endeavour is now scheduled to lift-off from Kennedy Space Center at 6:36 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

The weather also is likely to be more favorable on Wednesday for the launch of Endeavour, whose seven-member crew will expand the International Space Station.

Bad weather has already forced NASA to postpone today’s scheduled launch of the Mars Phoenix lander. Lift-off is now scheduled for 5:26 a.m. Saturday.

Caldwell is a mission specialist whose duties range from using a robotic camera to inspect the shuttle for damage after launch to monitoring sensors that will help Endeavour to safely dock with the International Space Station. She and her crew will add an $11 million piece of framework to space station. The girder, known as S-5, was developed at Boeing-Huntington Beach.

We will be providing comprehensive coverage of the flight of Endeavour.

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