NASA tries again to launch space shuttle

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -

NASA moved ahead Saturday with last-minute preparations for its second attempt to get space shuttle Discovery off the ground for the first nighttime launch in four years.

With the shuttle facing no technical concerns, the biggest obstacle to launching Discovery on a mission to the international space station had been weather, but the forecast improved as the clock ticked down. An improvement in the cloud cover and winds at the

Kennedy Space Center raised the chances of lifting off at 8:47 p.m. EST to 70 percent with more than two hours left in the countdown. Earlier, forecasters put the figure at 30 percent.

"I think it's a beautiful night for a launch," said chief astronaut Steve Lindsey as he flew around the space center conducting weather observations.

Discovery's astronauts ate a preflight meal, suited up in their orange spacesuits and then boarded a van for the trip to the launch pad. Astronaut Sunita Williams, who will be living at the space station for six months, made muscle poses for the camera while her crew mates finished putting on the spacesuits.

Later, on the launch pad, looking up at the 184-foot-long rocketship, the astronauts hugged, shook hands and gave thumbs up. Technicians sealed the hatch about 2 1/2 hours before launch.

Before boarding the shuttle, Williams, who grew up outside Boston, home of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, held up a sign that read, "Go Red Sox. Go Pats. Go for launch."

Chicago Bears fan Joan Higginbotham, a native of the Windy City, waved a "Da Bears" sign and then shook her head "no" when crew mate Robert Curbeam, a Baltimore native, held up a "Go Colts" sign.

"I think this is the one!" astronaut Ken Ham in Mission Control in Houston told Williams after she strapped into her seat.

There were still concerns about crosswinds at an emergency landing site and isolated showers. Low clouds block views of the space shuttle during launch and make an emergency landing more difficult.

Low clouds forced the space agency to scrub an attempt Thursday night during a countdown that ran down to the wire. Managers decided not to try again Friday because the forecast looked even worse.

Unusually cold weather at the Kennedy Space Center caused delays in draining fuel from the shuttle's external tank after Thursday night's attempt, which then caused a two-hour postponement in fueling for Saturday's try.

There was enough flexibility in the schedule to make the launch time.

"We are running a pretty tight line right now," said NASA launch commentator Bruce Buckingham. "We can catch up with a lot of activities over the next few hours."

The chances for good weather was 40 percent Sunday and Monday. The best opportunity over the next several days is Tuesday, with a 60 percent chance of decent weather.

During a 12-day mission, Discovery's astronauts will rewire the space station, bring up a new 2-ton addition to the space lab and rotate out one of the three station crew members.

NASA wants Discovery back from its 12-day mission by New Year's Eve because shuttle computers are not designed to make the change from the 365th day of the old year to the first day of the new year while in flight. The agency has developed a fix, but would prefer not to try it.

NASA had required daylight launches for the three flights after the 2003 Columbia accident to make sure the agency could get good daytime photos of the external fuel tank in case debris fell from it. Foam breaking off the tank and striking Columbia's wing at liftoff led to the disaster that killed seven astronauts.

But NASA officials were comfortable with the acceptable levels of foam loss during the last two liftoffs and believe radar will spot pieces falling from Discovery's tank.

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