Potential lightning-strike damage has become the latest reason why space shuttle Endeavour will not be blasting off from Kennedy Space Center on time.
NASA announced Saturday that it would ground the oft-delayed Endeavour for 24 hours, while the space agency checked out the launching pad to make sure there was no damage from a series of 11 nearby lightning strikes.
According to a media release posted to the NASA website at 10:42 a.m. ET, the launch was delayed "to allow technical teams additional time to evaluate lightning strikes at Launch Pad 39A that occurred during Friday's thunderstorm."
The space agency is now hoping to see the shuttle launch at 7:13 p.m. ET on Sunday.
At an 11 a.m. news conference, Mike Moses, the chairman of the NASA mission management team spoke about the delay.
So far, there are no indications that the shuttle or its equipment was damaged by lightning, but NASA needs to be sure in order to send Endeavour into space.
"It just wasn't the right thing to do," Moses said Saturday morning, when explaining the reasons for the 24-hour delay. "We need to be 100 per cent confident that we have a good system across the board."
Moses said the 11 lightning strikes were each within 0.3 nautical miles of the shuttle's launch pad.
The weather on Sunday appears to be better for launch conditions than it was for the intended Saturday launch, he said.
The shuttle is scheduled to head to the International Space Station for a 16-day mission that was supposed to take place in June. Problems with fuel leaks, however, have caused the launch to be delayed on several occasions.
Canada's Julie Payette is one of the seven Endeavour crew members who has been waiting for the shuttle to launch.
The Endeavour crew is supposed to be delivering the last piece of Japan's $1 billion Kibo laboratory to the ISS.
They will also be returning space station crew member Koichi Wakata, of Japan, back to Earth.
Payette's husband, Billy Flynn, said the astronauts were staying calm despite the setback on Saturday.
"They've had two scrubs before, so they've gone through the focus and concentration of getting ready twice, so each time it gets that much easier," Flynn said.
Payette intends to bring several Canadian items with her when she heads into space, including maple cookies and maple butter, as well as a CD by Saskatoon country singer Kal Hourd.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
