Today’s scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour has been pushed back at least 72 hours due to a problem with one the orbiter’s auxiliary power units, or APUs in NASA-speak (which, for the record, doesn’t annoy me nearly as much as the bizspeak). The fuel lines that feed the APUs have to be heated to prevent them from freezing up in space and leaving the shuttle without full hydraulic power for flight control surfaces and the landing gear upon re-entry. Apparently a thermostat on one of those heaters has gone bad, making the unit unreliable. Technicians are now draining the 535,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the external fuel tank, so they can work safely in and around the orbiter’s rear section. The astronauts never even made it aboard their ship before the cancellation; they were in their Astrovan, en route to the pad, when the news came down. I imagine they must be tremendously disappointed. Launch delays are an occupational hazard for astronauts, of course, but I know if I were in their position, I’d have been up all night, totally wired and rarin’ to go, and then to have the adventure snatched away when you’re so close, within moments of boarding and only hours of actually going… well, I personally would be crushed. Guess I don’t have the right stuff.

Anyhow, I wonder if the problem has anything to do with the lightning storm last night. Perhaps there was some damage done after all? (Incidentally, that gorgeous photo above was taken after the storm; the shuttle is reflecting in a really big puddle of rainwater…)