Endeavour will try to launch again Monday for space station mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Thunderstorms forced NASA to call off Sunday evening's launch of shuttle Endeavour, the fourth delay for the space station construction mission.

The launch team came within minutes of sending Endeavour and seven astronauts to the international space station. But storms quickly moved in from the west and violated NASA's safety rules, and managers halted the countdown. They will try again Monday, despite an outlook calling for more bad weather.

"We got the vehicle ready, and the weather unfortunately did not cooperate with us today," launch director Pete Nickolenko told the seven astronauts aboard Endeavour.

"We understand and we'll be ready," replied commander Mark Polansky.

NASA has until Tuesday, possibly Wednesday, to launch Endeavour with the final piece of Japan's space station lab. Otherwise, it will have to wait until the end of July because of a Russian supply ship that's awaiting liftoff.