Everyone's disappointed: Endeavour stays home

William Atkins
Saturday, 30 April 2011 03:22

Science - Space

On Friday, April 29, 2011, the STS-134 flight of the space shuttle Endeavour was scrubbed because of one of its power system. President Obama and family, and recovering Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were disappointed in not seeing the launch.

Mark Kelly, the commander of the flight, had his wife on hand for the launch at the Kennedy Space Center.

Gabrielle Giffords made the trip to Florida from Texas, where she is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head in Houston -- just a few miles away from where her husband trains for shuttle flights at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

 

Ms. Giffords is a Democrat representing the citizens of the state of Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives. Also in attendance was President Barack Obama and his family.

The launch will not tried again until at least Sunday, May 1, 2011, in order to make sure the problem has been fixed.

The problem that scrubbed the mission, as announced by the mission's flight director, involves two heaters on one of the three hydraulic power units (HPUs) onboard the shuttle.

Without power from these units the shuttle is unable to move its landing gear brakes and wing flaps (during landing, and engine nozzles (during take off).

Currently, the new lift off time on Sunday has been set for 2:59:38 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

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