Updated: Mon, Jul 30, 2001, 5:20 PM ET (2120 GMT)
Originally Posted: Mon, Jul 30, 2001, 11:30 AM ET (1530 GMT)
The launch of NASA's Genesis space science mission has been delayed until at least Wednesday as engineers investigate the possibility of a faulty power supply on the spacecraft. Genesis was scheduled to lift off at 12:36 pm EDT (1636 GMT) Monday atop a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral, but mission managers elected late Sunday to delay the launch until Tuesday. The decision was made after a power supply component similar to one in the spacecraft failed a recent lab test. The delay will give engineers time to perform a "paper chase" and determine if the power supply on the spacecraft shares any heritage with the failed system. On Monday managers decided to delay the launch until Wednesday to give engineers more time to complete checks of the system. If the component checks out the launch will take place at 12:31 pm EDT (1631 GMT) Wednesday. Once launched, Genesis will travel to the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, where it will spend more than two years collecting samples of the solar wind that will be returned to Earth for study in 2004.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now mission status center
•  Genesis mission web site