NASA says cold conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida have forced it to postpone the next space shuttle launch until April.
Space agency managers have targeted April 5 for the launch of shuttle Discovery and its STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.
Discovery's seven crew members had planned to lift off March 18, but the cold conditions delayed the shuttle's move to the space center's Vehicle Assembly Building to complete processing, which in turn has delayed the rollout to the launch pad, officials said.
"The space shuttle program has specific rules against transporting the shuttle when temperatures are below a certain level for extended periods," NASA said in a statement, noting the vehicle has thrusters with seals that could leak in low temperatures.
The space agency said two STS-131 crew members — NASA astronaut Clay Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki — are tweeting about preparing for the mission. Their tweets can be followed at
http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Clay and
http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Naoko.
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