The countdown has resumed for Space Shuttle Endeavour’s launch, now scheduled for Monday, May 16 at 8:56 a.m. CTTechJunkie will be heading back down to Florida for the launch.
The original April 29th launch date was scrubbed after the failure of auxiliary power unit heaters. The problem was traced to a load control unit that needed to be replaced, requiring the retesting of all subsystems that connected to the unit. The only immediate concern for the Monday morning launch is the weather, currently forecasted to be 70% favorable for launch. Weather needs to be acceptable not only at the launch site, but also at emergency landing sites in Spain and France.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wife of Endeavour Commander Mark Kelly, is expected to once again be in attendance to watch the launch. President Barack Obama, who visited Kennedy Space Center shortly after the launch scrub, will not be returning. A group of Shelton High School students who have an experiment on Endeavour will not make the trip this time but will be watching the launch from the school.
Follow our coverage throughout the weekend.