Glitch, weather threaten Shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A computer glitch and a forecast a bad weather are threatening Thursday's planned launch of space shuttle Discovery for its final mission, NASA said.

Scheduled to lift off Thursday afternoon from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the launch has already been postponed once for a problem with the shuttle's orbital maneuvering system, SPACE.com reported.

While engineers work non-stop to solve the electrical glitch, forecasters say the weather outlook is not promising.

An 80 percent chance of foul weather could cause yet another delay, NASA shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters said.

On Wednesday Discovery's mission management team was reviewing data to decide whether to fly the shuttle as is or delay further to troubleshoot and make repairs.

"We fly with known risks, not unknown risks," Mike Moses, NASA's shuttle integration manager, said late Tuesday. "Right now this risk is a little bit unknown."

If Discovery does not launch by Sunday, it will miss the current window and will have to wait until Dec. 1 to try again.