NASA decided today to delay the Atlantis shuttle

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launch by at least another 24 hours to determine the impact of a powerful lightning strike on the launch pad.

 

Officials had delayed the launch until tomorrow to allow engineers to analyse a pile of data overnight to check on the ground and shuttle systems, but more time was needed.

 

"The mission managers have determined that the shuttle Atlantis will not launch before Tuesday (Wednesday AEST)," NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

"This delay is as a result of the lightning strike at the pad on Friday, and the need for additional time for further analysis of the shuttle and ground systems," he said.

 

Mr Buckingham said that no damage was found to the shuttle or the launch pad so far.

 

Tuesday's launch would take place at 3.42pm (5.42am AEST Wednesday).

 

The shuttle's launch window closes on September 13.

 

Although lightning strikes are common on the launch pad, officials said Friday's was believed to be the strongest to hit the structure. The storm discharge struck a lightning protection rod atop the launch pad.

 

Officials were also keeping a close eye on a tropical storm that grew into a hurricane in the Caribbean overnight and could force NASA to remove the shuttle from its launch pad.

 

"Nobody knows where it's going, and if the winds get high enough we're going to have to roll back (the shuttle off the launch pad) if it comes towards us," said NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone.

 

Once it launches, Atlantis will carry a new 16-tonne segment with two huge solar panels to the International Space Station on the first of 16 flights planned to complete assembly of the half-finished space station by 2010, when the shuttle fleet is set to retire.

 

The Columbia shuttle disaster in February 2003 forced a halt in the orbiting laboratory's construction.

 

The Atlantis mission will be the third shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster, which was caused by debris that struck its heat shield during liftoff, dooming its return home with seven astronauts aboard.

 

After two Discovery shuttle flights in the past two years aimed at improving safety, NASA declared it was ready to resume construction of the station, which is key to US ambitions to send humans to Mars.

 

Safety remains a priority, however, and NASA will employ the same thorough shuttle inspection techniques used in the Discovery missions.

 

The Atlantis mission is a critical first step in the ISS's assembly.

 

The installation of the solar panels, which will eventually provide a quarter of the station's power, is one of the most complex parts of the ISS assembly sequence.

 

Three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission, which will be followed by another shuttle flight planned for December for another assembly sequence that officials said would be even trickier.

 

The ISS weighs 197 tonnes and will mushroom to a massive, 454-tonne structure when completed.

 

The US, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and 11 countries from the European Space Agency are involved in the orbiting lab, which was launched in November 1998.

 

The Atlantis crew will be commanded by Brent Jett. Chris Ferguson will be the co-pilot, and the four mission specialists will be Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency, Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Joe Tanner.