spacetoday.net: Weather delays shuttle launch to Saturday

Posted: Fri, Dec 8, 2006, 8:31 AM ET (1331 GMT)
STS-116: on pad before launch (NASA)

Low clouds forced NASA to postpone Thursday night's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Discovery, and continued poor weather will keep the shuttle grounded until at least Saturday. NASA had hoped to launch Discovery Thursday night at 9:35 pm EST (0235 GMT Friday), but low clouds, which restrict visibility during launch, forced shuttle managers to scrub the launch. With unacceptable weather forecasts to persist through Friday, NASA has scheduled the next launch attempt for 8:47 pm EST Saturday (0147 GMT Sunday). However, the forecast Saturday calls for only a 30-percent chance of acceptable conditions, with conditions not expected to drastically improve before early next week. NASA has until December 17 to launch the shuttle so that it can complete its mission and return before the end of the year; an issue with how the shuttle's computers keep track of the date has led NASA to try and avoid having the shuttle in orbit over the New Year.