Endeavour launch pushed back to May 10

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CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA is pushing back from May 8 to May 10 its target for the already delayed launch of space shuttle Endeavour on its last flight to the International Space Station, officials said on Monday.

NASA had planned to launch Endeavour on its 25th and final mission on Friday but a failed heater in one of the spaceship's hydraulic power generators prompted managers to call off the flight about four hours before liftoff.

On Sunday, NASA managers decided to replace a suspect electronics box that routes power to the heaters on the auxiliary generator. The replacement required an extensive and time-consuming retest of the 70 to 80 impacted shuttle systems, initially pushing back the launch to no earlier than May 8.

But after assessing overnight progress, managers decided on Monday that May 10 was a more realistic target launch date, NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said.

A final decision about whether to attempt launch on that date will be made on Friday, Herring said.

The shuttle is carrying a $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector and a pallet of spare parts to the space station.

The six-man crew, led by commander Mark Kelly, the husband of convalescent U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is scheduled to spend up to 16 days in orbit preparing the station for operations after the U.S. shuttle fleet's retirement, which is scheduled for this year. (Reuters)