Shuttle Launch Delayed Again by Heavy Rain

The launch of the space shuttle Columbia, delayed so many times it has been nicknamed “Mission Impossible,” was postponed for a record seventh time today as heavy rain fell on Cape Canaveral.

After waiting nearly two hours for the weather to clear, disappointed NASA officials called off the launch and rescheduled it for 3:55 a.m. PST Sunday.

“The crew was somewhat disappointed but in good spirits,” said NASA spokesman Jim Ball.

For the third time this week the seven-man crew, including Rep. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), spent more than four hours strapped in their flight seats waiting for a launch that never came.

Challenger Delayed

“We could tell by looking out the window that we weren’t going anywhere today,” mission commander Robert Gibson radioed ground controllers before the astronauts exited smiling from the shuttle’s cramped cabin.

NASA said today’s postponement had forced a one-day delay, until Jan. 24, in the planned launch of the shuttle Challenger, scheduled to take aloft schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe on the next mission of the shuttle program.

So far, Columbia’s launching has been delayed by defective valves, a failed electronic control in a rocket, and bad weather either here or at emergency landing sites overseas.

The mission was originally set to begin and end before Christmas.