Posted: Tue, May 1, 2001, 8:55 AM ET (1255 GMT)
Bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center has forced NASA to divert the space shuttle Endeavour to California for a landing later Tuesday. A combination of clouds, wind, and rain led shuttle managers to wave off two landing attempts at KSC Tuesday morning, opting instead for a landing attempt at 12:11 pm EDT (1611 GMT) at Edwards Air Force Base, where weather conditions are good. This will mark the third time in the last five missions that the shuttle has been forced to land at Edwards because of poor weather at KSC after a streak of four and a half years of consecutive landings at KSC. Landings in Florida are preferred since a California landing costs NASA a week and $1 million as the shuttle must be ferried by 747 back to KSC. Endeavour is returning to complete mission STS-100, where the seven-man crew helped install a Canadian-built robotic arm to the exterior of the International Space Station and ferried supplies to the orbiting outpost.

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