Endeavour technical problem identified

Engineers have identified the technical problem that delayed the space shuttle Endeavour’s final mission last week, but the next lift-off attempt will not be before May 10, according to Nasa.

“Nasa space shuttle and International Space Station managers are now determined that Tuesday, May 10, is the earliest Endeavour could be launched on the STS-134 mission,” the US space agency said in a statement.

The mission of the shuttle Endeavour is to be the US programme’s second-to-last flight to the International Space Station, followed by Atlantis in June. After that, the 30-year-old US shuttle programme will end.

The glitch, which caused Nasa to scrub the attempt hours before lift-off on Friday, was traced to a power problem in the aft load control assembly-2 (ALCA-2), a box of switches that control electrical flow to heaters that keep fuel lines from freezing in orbit.

“The plan is to remove and replace the box, but that work and related testing will take several days to complete,” Nasa said.

“Plans are for managers to reconvene on Friday to determine a more definite launch date after the box is removed and replaced and the retest of systems has been completed.”

The six-member crew of astronauts left Florida on Sunday and are engaging in more mission training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas while they wait for the next launch attempt date to be announced.

Endeavour will carry a $2 billion, seven-ton particle physics detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, which will be left at the space station to scour the universe for dark matter and antimatter.

The 14-day mission, known as STS-134, is to be commanded by US astronaut Mark Kelly, whose wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head sustained in January.