Unfavorable weather conditions have further delayed the start of space shuttle Endeavour's Florida-to-Southern California flight on the back of a modified Boeing 747.
NASA officials announced Monday afternoon that the flight from Kennedy Space Center aboard a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft would be postponed to Friday because of thunderstorms along the flight path.
Earlier Monday, the space shuttle's journey was postponed to Wednesday. That was after Sunday's announcement that the cross-country flight would be postponed from Monday to Tuesday.
The shuttle was originally scheduled to arrive at LAX on Thursday. Managers were scheduled to conduct another weather briefing Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Low-level flyovers are planned along the route, weather permitting. After a stop in Texas, a flyover was planned at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The aircraft and shuttle are scheduled to depart Dryden for flyovers at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, and over Sacramento and San Francisco. The aircraft also will conduct a flyover of several sites in LA before its touchdown at LAX.
Endeavour will be undocked from the carrier at LAX, and crews at a United Airlines hangar will prepare the shuttle for transport -- a 12-mile trip to the Science Center. It is expected to arrive at the Science Center on Oct. 13 and go on display Oct. 30 in the Science Center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion.
City News Service contributed to this report.
