The U.S. space agency has revised the date of the launch of space shuttle Discovery, targeting May 25 at 7:26 p.m. EDT for liftoff of the STS-124 mission.
The flight originally was targeted for an April 24 launch, but fuel sensor system repair work on STS-122 and STS-123 delayed final preparations of Discovery's external fuel tank, NASA said.
Officials also noted the shuttle cannot undertake a mission to the International Space Station May 7-25 because the angle of the sun with respect to the plane of the station's orbit is too high to generate sufficient solar power for the mission.
NASA said Discovery's revised launch date will not affect the remainder of the shuttle manifest. During the mission, the shuttle's seven-member crew will deliver the pressurized module and the robotic arm of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.
