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NASA Postpones Shuttle Atlantis Launch Until Friday
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=13D63C9:A6F02AD83191E16016190783F072BEE79574F7DCC14957C0 Launch delayed due
to a problem with a fuel cell used to provide electricity to shuttle





Space shuttle Atlantis  on launch pad at Kennedy Space Center

The U.S. space agency now says it has postponed the launch of the
space shuttle Atlantis until Friday.

NASA had planned to launch Atlantis Wednesday on an 11-day mission.
But the launch was delayed due to a problem with a fuel cell used to
provide electricity to the shuttle.

Atlantis was originally set to depart last month, but bad weather
caused a series of postponements.

Space agency engineers hope to launch Atlantis this week so that
long-delayed work on the International Space Station can resume.
Construction stopped after the shuttle Columbia disaster in February
2003 forced a long moratorium on shuttle flights.

Failure to launch the shuttle this week could delay the mission until
October.

Astronauts on the mission are expected to attach a 17-ton addition to
the space station. It will include a new set of giant solar energy
panels that will reach 80 meters in length when fully unfurled.

The launch schedule date is dictated by the need to avoid conflict
with a planned September 14 Russian Soyuz launch with a new
Russian-American space station crew.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.


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