Bad Weather Delays Shuttle Landing Again

The crew of the space shuttle Discovery have been told to orbit the Earth one more time as rain and thunderstorms over Florida forced them to miss today's first opportunity to land.

The shuttle had been due to land at the Kennedy Space Centre at 10.08 BST, but flight controllers ordered the astronauts to continue circling the planet while waiting for better weather off the Florida coast. The landing had already been postponed from yesterday because of the weather.

Mission Control radioed the shuttle today and said: "At this time, we're going to ask you guys to watch the earth go by for one more revolution. We do appreciate your patience and good humour with the situation."

The shuttle has six opportunities to land today. The second slot is at 11.43 BST in Florida, followed by 1.12 BST and 2.47 BST at the Edwards Air Force base California.

Flight controllers have also been considering landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico if the weather does not improve. The landing slots there are 11.39 BST and 1.13 BST.

Nasa administrator Michael Griffin said: "We're going to land [today] one way or another, one place or another."

Discovery has enough fuel and supplies to stay in orbit until tomorrow, but Nasa wants to reserve that option in case a technical problem arises that takes time to resolve.

Discovery will be the first shuttle to attempt a landing since the Columbia disintegrated on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere two and half years ago, killing all seven astronauts on board.