spacetoday.net: NASA to make shuttle launch decision Monday

Posted: Sun, Jun 14, 2009, 10:10 PM ET (0210 GMT)

NASA shuttle managers said late Sunday that they will make a decision no later than Monday afternoon about when to make the next attempt to launch the shuttle Endeavour. Saturday's scheduled launch of the shuttle on the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed several hours before liftoff when a leak in a gaseous hydrogen venting system was detected, similar to one that took place before the launch of STS-119 earlier this year. Shuttle managers are hoping to turn the shuttle around and try for a Wednesday launch, but that date has been reserved for the Atlas 5 launch of the LRO and LCROSS lunar missions. If the shuttle does launch Wednesday, LRO could launch Friday or Saturday; if LRO launches Wednesday, the shuttle could only launch on Saturday before standing down until early July.