bc-us-shuttledelay

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., Nov. 29 (UPI) -- NASA will keep space shuttle Endeavour grounded until at least Friday while engineers study a possible problem with the docking of an unmanned cargo craft at the International Space Station, which is where the shuttle also is headed.

The Russian Progress resupply ship arrived at the orbital outpost on Wednesday and initial reports said it was safely and firmly latched into its berthing port. However, NASA later said Russian ground control teams did not receive the expected confirmation the latching mechanism was secured.

The shuttle was scheduled to lift off at 7:41 p.m. Thursday on a mission to ferry a replacement crew, supplies and science experiments to the space station. Engineers raised concerns the shuttle's docking at the complex might cause damage if the Progress' locking mechanism is loose.

While NASA continues to assess what affect, if any, the shuttle's docking would have on a loose connection, the space station crew is preparing for a possible spacewalk to fix the problem.

Ground controllers told the crew of the shuttle's delay and notified them cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurom and Mikhail Tyurin might need to venture outside the complex to remove a loose cable that may be the cause of the faulty latching mechanism.

The earliest NASA would try to launch the shuttle is 7:18 p.m. EST Friday. Forecasters are predicting a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather for launch on both Friday and Saturday.