Weather Again Delays Shuttle Liftoff

Atlantis’ commander got over his cold Friday but the weather remained bad, forcing NASA to postpone for the third time the launch of the shuttle on a secret military mission.

Shuttle managers moved the scheduled launch back 24 hours to Sunday morning after forecasters predicted high winds and thunderstorms in the hours leading up to a possible launch today.

The forecasters said the cold front causing the problems would move out by Sunday and there was an 80% chance of favorable weather for liftoff. That is the best outlook so far for the shuttle mission, which was originally scheduled for liftoff Thursday.

The heavy rains and high winds would have prevented crews from pumping propellant into Atlantis’ fuel tank for the four-day mission to put a spy satellite in orbit.

Flight surgeons earlier in the day declared shuttle commander John O. Creighton fully recovered. Creighton and the four other crew members were found to be healthy during a medical exam Tuesday, but the commander complained of a sore throat the next day.