Shuttle Launch Faces Possible Delay

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Worried that Hurricane Luis could head this way, NASA prepared space shuttle Endeavour for a possible retreat from the launch pad that could cause another delay in its science mission.

With the countdown clock ticking toward a Thursday liftoff, the space agency will decide today whether to move the shuttle to the hangar for protection against Luis’ damaging wind. That could delay the flight as much as a week.

Even if the powerful hurricane avoids Florida’s east coast, the chances of acceptable weather for the launch were put at only 40%.

Endeavour had to be moved off its pad in early August for protection against the much weaker Hurricane Erin.

The mission to release a pair of science satellites already is more than a month late because of repairs to O-ring joints on the solid rocket boosters and because of an overheated power generator that forced NASA to scrub a launch attempt hours before liftoff last week.