Space Shuttle Launch Postponed Due to Technical Problem
06 September 2006
The U.S. space agency NASA has postponed Wednesday's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Atlantis due to a technical problem.
NASA says it hopes to launch the shuttle Thursday, after repairing a problem in one of the three systems that produce electricity during flight.
Atlantis originally was to depart last month, but a lightning strike and tropical storm caused a series of postponements.
Astronauts on the 11-day mission are expected to attach a 16-ton addition to the international space station. It will include two solar panels meant eventually to generate one-quarter of the space station's energy.
NASA has until Friday to launch Atlantis before facing a delay until late October.
Construction on the space station has been stalled since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entering the Earth's atmosphere in 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard. NASA is under pressure to finish space station construction before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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