spacetoday.net: Shuttle to stay in orbit another day

Shuttle to stay in orbit another day

Posted: Sat, May 23, 2009, 10:39 AM ET (1439 GMT)

NASA managers decided Saturday morning to keep the shuttle Atlantis in orbit for an additional day in the hops that weather conditions will improve enough to permit a landing in Florida. Poor weather had scrubbed landing attempts at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, and were not acceptable for a landing Saturday morning. NASA had the option to land the shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where weather conditions were good, but decided to keep the shuttle in orbit and try again on Sunday. A Florida landing would avoid the additional time and expense of ferrying the shuttle by aircraft from California to Florida.