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Fri, Apr 29, 2011

Endeavour Launch Scrubbed For Friday

APU Heaters Malfunctioned About Three Hours Before Launch

ANN Realtime Update 1410 EDT 04.29.2011: Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach stated that Endeavour's launch will be no earlier than Monday at 1433 EDT. Engineers need that time to troubleshoot an issue that resulted in Friday's launch scrub.


Lightning Strikes Thursday Near Endeavour. Weather has not been associated with Friday's launch scrub.

During today's countdown, engineers detected a failure in one of two heater circuits associated with Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) 1. Heaters are required to keep the APUs' hydrazine from freezing on orbit. Attempts to activate the heater were not successful and engineers now believe the problem might be associated with a Load Control Assembly, which is a switchbox, located in the aft end of Endeavour, or an electrical short in the wires leading into or out of the switchbox.

Endeavour's external tank will be drained, technicians will enter Endeavour's aft compartment overnight and by tomorrow afternoon, will put in a platform to gain access to the avionics bay where the Load Control Assembly is located. Once there, they will assess whether they need to remove and replace the switchbox, or fix an electrical wiring short.

Because of this, Leinbach said there will be a minimum 72-hour scrub turnaround.

Engineers and managers will meet Friday afternoon to further refine their troubleshooting plan. NASA has scheduled a news conference at 1600 to discuss today's scrub and the plan.

BREAKING NEWS Update: 1330 EDT. Shuttle Endeavour's launch now no earlier than Monday at 1433 EDT. A news conference is scheduled for 1600 Friday.

Original Story: 4.29.2011 1340 EDT: The launch of space shuttle Endeavour has been scrubbed for at least 48 hours. NASA announced the scrub via Twitter about 1230 EDT. They cite problems with two of the heaters associated with the spacecraft's Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) 1 as the reason for postponing the launch.

The shuttles three APUs provide hydraulic power to steer the shuttle's aerosurfaces during ascent and entry.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

FMI: www.nasa.gov

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