Liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission has been rescheduled for Wednesday, July 15 at 6:03 p.m. EDT.

Monday's attempt was canceled due to poor weather conditions within the launch area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Anvil clouds and storm cells containing lightning flared up toward the end of the countdown, violating stringent launch safety rules.

"Technically, we've been really clean the last two days with our vehicle," Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses said of Endeavour's launch attempts on Sunday and Monday. "It's just been the weather scenario that got us."

The outlook is better on Wednesday, with only a 40 percent chance of weather conditions prohibiting liftoff.

Hopefully, it will work out and a new Japanese module will arrive soon to the International Space Station. [NASA—Image by Gene Blevins/LA Daily News]

Picture this, if you will...

The main shuttle mission, Atlantis, experiences another foam incident, and the heat shield is damaged beyond repair. Upon acknowledgment of the problem, NASA scrambles a four-person astronaut rescue team, which must prepare for launch in the span of a few days. Normally, as you know, launches are complex affairs that require months of preparation. But no bother. The Endeavour lifts off successfully and the rescue team screams into space In fact, Endeavour is put on a T-Minus seven day liftoff count once the Atlantis launches anyway, so it's technically ready to go from minute one.

Once in orbit, the rescue team shuttle captain must pilot his craft to within a few dozen yards or the ailing shuttle. Once there, the robot arm is sent out to grasp the gimped shuttle, thereby serving as a life line for the crew. On board the rescue craft are extra spacesuits and gear, so that the entire seven-person Atlantis crew can spacewalk to Endeavour over the course of a few days.

Endeavour, now packed to the gills, must then return home. As for Atlantis, she will be given a proper scuttling by a crew back at mission control. Using a remote control system, they will ditch the shuttle in the Pacific, and try to recover its debris later.

The Endeavour crew must then check their ship for damage, and hope beyond hope that there isn't any. There's no other shuttle on the pad, you see, and the ISS is at an orbit that will be unreachable for either shuttle during this mission (Note: Other missions have had the ISS as a backup plan due to shared orbits and other such details).

Again, this is rare. But it's comforting to note our spacemen and women have each other's backs up there. [MSNBC]

Click on the image above to get the 1600 x 1200 pixel version

Space Shuttle mission STS-126—which brought the materials and made the renovations at the International Space Station—had to land at the Edwards Air Force Base on November 30. Here you can see it as it touches down that day, on Runway 4 at 4:25:06 PM.

The landing was actually a detour from its original landing point in Cape Canaveral, Florida, caused by weather conditions. When this strange occurrence happens, NASA has to fly back the shuttle to the Kennedy Space Center, so it can get revised and fixed for the next flight. The whole trip costs NASA a total of $1.8 million, including flying the modified 747 and getting the shuttle ready for the flight.

And finally, the almost impossible take off.

When the ISS is not available for rescue purposes, as it might not be for this mission, a second shuttle is made ready for a quick launch. What is sobering, however, is this image is potentially the last of its kind. The space shuttle program is scheduled for retirement in 2010, leaving little chance for similar shuttle family photos in the future. [NASA, Tom's Astronomy Blog]

Hit the link to learn of other galactic fantastic Apple iPods. [TUAW]