Posted: Tue, Oct 29, 2002, 10:45 PM ET (0345 GMT)
NASA is considering delaying the launch of the shuttle Endeavour by one day to compensate for the delay in the launch of a Soyuz taxi mission. Endeavour is currently scheduled to launch on mission STS-113 in the early morning hours of November 10, but NASA is considering delaying the launch until the 11th because the Soyuz TMA-1 taxi flight was delayed two days after the launch failure of another Soyuz rocket. The delay would allow the ISS crew additional time to adjust their sleep and work schedules from those kept while the taxi crew is on the station to those that will be used when the shuttle is docked. In the meantime, engineers are still investigating the failure of one of two circuits used to trigger explosive bolts that hold the shuttle's solid rocket boosters to the pad. One circuit failed when Atlantis lifted off earlier in October on STS-112, but the bolts still fired because the other circuit worked. The bolts are considered a "crit-1" system, according to Spaceflight Now, meaning that the problem must be resolved before Endeavour is allowed to launch.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  SPACE.com article
•  Florida Today article