Bad weather blocked the shuttle

The US Aeronautics Agency (NASA) decided to postpone Discovery's launch today because of cloudy weather and strong winds.

The decision was made just minutes before the scheduled launch time. NASA said, the launch time was delayed until 1:10 am tomorrow. " Discovery has not been able to take off today because the weather is not supportive," Pete Nickolenko, director of ship launching , told CNN.

According to Nickolenko, large clouds, rain and storms have appeared in the sky 36 kilometers above the 39A launch pad of the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The weather gets worse a few hours before the space shuttle takes off, and meteorologists have to lower the success rate of the launch.

Discovery ship on the launch pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center.(Photo: NASA)

Discovery will carry 6.8 tons of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). Among the goods there is a bedroom, a cooling device, food, exercise machine. Nicole Scott, an American astronaut, will also follow the train to ISS to replace the compatriot Tim Kopra. The trip will take 13 days.

Two Discovery astronauts will make three space walks to replace a bottle of liquid ammonia (used for cooling) weighing 800 kg. New ammonia flasks will store astronauts' urine, blood and many other things. They will be brought to earth to study the effects of the vacuum environment on the human body. The two astronauts will also dismantle a test device outside ISS and bring it to earth for processing.

NASA has delayed the shuttle Endeavor 5 times because of bad weather and technical problems. The ship flew to ISS in mid-July.