NASA postpones space shuttle Endeavor launch for fifth time

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- NASA has called off the launch of space shuttle Endeavor for the fifth time due to thunderstorms near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the U.S. space agency said Monday.

The Nasa countdown clock showing t-minus nine minutes. The U.S.  space agency will make a fifth attempt to launch the space shuttle Endeavour after stormy weather has forced four postponements of  its mission to the International Space Station.(Xinhua/AFP  File Photo)

Anvil clouds and storm cells containing lighting flared up toward the end of the countdown, violating stringent launch safety rules, NASA said.

"The weather has just bitten us again," launch director Pete Nickolenko radioed to the Endeavor crew.

Endeavor had been scheduled to lift off at 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT). Launch managers halted the countdown just minutes before its blastoff. The same thing happened Sunday.

Endeavor should have blasted off to the international space station in mid-June, but was postponed by potentially dangerous leaks of hydrogen gas.

Endeavor's 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.