科技英语新闻:NASA ready to launch shuttle Endeavour

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA has readied the space shuttle Endeavour for its liftoff set for Monday, media reported Monday.

Good weather looks 70 percent likely for Monday's scheduled launch of Endeavour, the next-to-last U.S. space shuttle mission as NASA develops a new generation of craft for longer voyages.

"The updated forecast Sunday for Monday's launch of the shuttle Endeavour remains unchanged with a 70 percent chance of good weather," said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.

Liftoff is set for 8:56 a.m. EDT (1256 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center for the trip to the International Space Station after the U.S. space agency repaired a technical glitch that canceled last month's launch attempt.

The initial April 29 launch attempt was scrubbed hours before liftoff when technicians discovered a power failure in a heating line that served to prevent fuel from freezing in orbit.

The six-member crew of astronauts including five Americans and one Italian, Roberto Vittori, will deliver a potent physics experiment to probe the origins of the universe during the mission, which will include four spacewalks.

The 16-day mission is intended to help get the space station ready for operations after the shuttle fleet is retired. The 135th and final shuttle launch is scheduled for early- to mid-July aboard Atlantis.