CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The next-to-last space shuttle flight has been delayed again, this time to at least the middle of May for extra electrical tests.
Mission managers decided yesterday that Endeavour would blast off no earlier than May 16.
The space station delivery mission led by Representative Gabrielle Giffords’s astronaut husband has been on hold. A heater malfunction halted the countdown April 29, and the trouble was traced to a switch box in the engine compartment. The box was removed, and this week engineers discovered a blown circuit inside.
NASA spokeswoman Candrea Thomas said testing will be conducted to find out if the circuitry problem was in the old box or somewhere in the external wiring still in the shuttle.
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