'Game' Called On Account of Weather... Lots Of It

 ANN Realtime Update, 07.12.09, 1903 EDT: It is the flight that has had NO luck at all... and we can but imagine that the crew of Endeavour are more than a little impatient to get back to work -- but NOT today. Weather in the immediate area threatened both the launch of the Shuttle as well as the potential success of a return to the Shuttle Runway in the case of an inflight abort.

Currently, NASA hopes to launch on Monday at 1851 EDT... we'll keep you informed as to their progress.

Original Report, 07.12.09, 0001 EDT: The launch of space shuttle Endeavour was postponed until Sunday evening so engineers could evaluate the spacecraft's myriad systems following 11 lightning strikes in the Launch Complex 39A area.

None of the strikes hit the shuttle or its external tank and solid rocket boosters, but there were strikes to the lightning mast and water tower. The launch pad is equipped with a lightning protection system of wires that is intended to steer bolts away from the shuttle.

"We've seen nothing so far that shows anything affected any of the systems," said Mike Moses, chairman of the pre-launch Mission Management Team.

Two of the strikes were strong enough to trigger an evaluation by engineers just to make sure all of Endeavour's systems are ready for flight. Although early evaluations showed no problems, engineers wanted more time to make sure they have checked everything correctly.

"We need to be 100 percent confident that we have a good system across the board," Moses said.

The launch time for Sunday is 7:13 p.m. EDT. The weather forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions. The STS-127 crew members are Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month stay at the station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov