Endeavouring to launch

SMALL PRINT:STOP THE COUNTDOWN – the space shuttle Endeavour'smuch anticipated final trip into orbit has been postponed until at least next week.

NASA had planned to launch Endeavourlast Friday on its final mission to the International Space Station. Everything was set to go, but equipment malfunction meant the event was called off.

"A failure in the heaters on a fuel line for one of Endeavour'sauxiliary power units resulted in a scrubbed first launch attempt for the STS-134 mission," stated NASA's website.

Technicians have been working on the stranded shuttle at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, according to the site: "Managers will continue to evaluate the repair process and make any additional adjustments before scheduling Endeavour'snext launch attempt, which remains no earlier than May 10th."

When it launches, one aim of the 14-day mission is to deliver an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and spare parts to the International Space Station.

The six-strong crew on this mission includes Commander Mark Kelly, whose wife, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was critically injured by a gunshot wound to the head earlier this year. But while Endeavourwaits for the green light, NASA has been busy celebrating: today marks the 50th anniversary of the first American astronaut in space – Alan B Shepard Jr took off on May 5th, 1961 in the spacecraft Freedom 7.His suborbital flight carried him to an altitude of 116 miles.