Spaceflight Now | STS-134 Shuttle Report | NASA moves Endeavour launch date to May 16

Spaceflight Now | STS-134 Shuttle Report | NASA moves Endeavour launch date to May 16: "KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--Launch of the shuttle Endeavour, grounded April 29 by an electrical glitch in the ship's hydraulic system, will be delayed until at least May 16 pending additional troubleshooting and repairs, NASA managers said Friday."

50th Anniversary of Alan Shepard-Friendship 7

Fifty years ago today (May 5, 1961), Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

For more information, check out NASA's tribute pages for more details. (requires flash, so won't work on iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch)

Shuttle Atlantis Rollover

@NASA: Shuttle Atlantis rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building now May 16 & rollout to pad May 23. STS-135 launch remains targeted for June 28.

Launch No Earlier than May 10

The failed control box was removed overnight from Endeavour, but some other issues have been identified that need to be investigated.

Yesterday afternoon, Shuttle and Space Station Managers met and set a possible launch date for May 10th. If Endeavour launches on the 10th, the two day extension planned for the mission will not be possible as it will conflict with the return flight of the Soyuz capsule carrying Cady Coleman, Paulo Nespoli, and Demitri Kondratyev. They are due to undock on May 22nd, and land in Kazakhstan on May 23rd.

Meanwhile, STS-134 crew will continue training exercises in Houston to keep their skills sharp. Mike Finke tweeted yesterday, "No worries-- we have plenty to study and the teams at the Cape are awesome.

The current launch window is now set for May 10 to May 12.

I will post updates as I learn more.

Shuttle Endeavour Updates from NASA

Keep track of the repair work on space shuttle Endeavour - and more: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Details on Endeavour's Repairs

Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) 5/2/11 11:27 AM Shuttle techs performing extra troubleshooting before replacing suspect avionics box. (link to article: tinyurl.com/sts134 )

Launch Slip to at Least May 8

Over the weekend, NASA engineers identified the problem with the heater failure on shuttle Endeavour. It is a complicated fix and will take several days to complete. The repair also requires extensive testing after the replacement part is installed. This puts the earliest possible launch date for around noon on Sunday May 8th. The countdown clock remains at a hold until repairs are completed and systems are verified to be working properly.

The astronauts flew back to Houston Sunday morning to rest and continue training while they await the restart of the launch countdown. They will remain in quarantine during that time, living in crew quarters at the Johnson Space Center (JSC).