Atlantis' Return Pushed Back by Bad Weather

NASA to try to bring shuttle back from Hubble mission on Saturday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts are getting an extra day in orbit, thanks to stormy weather.

Mission Control notified the seven astronauts Friday morning that the weather was too bad in Florida to bring them home. And so both landing attempts for the day were called off.

NASA will try again Saturday to end the successful mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Flight controllers will aim for a touchdown at Kennedy Space Center, but the backup landing site in California will be available as well. The shuttle has enough supplies to stay up until Monday.

Atlantis blasted off on NASA's last trip to Hubble 11 days ago. The repairs and upgrades left the 19-year-old observatory better than ever and added at least five years to its working life.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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