CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Seven astronauts have returned to NASA's launch site in Cape Canaveral for another shot at flying the space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station.
The mission, originally scheduled for December, had to be postponed after problems developed with erratic fuel gauges.
With those problems and others have since been fixed and liftoff is set for Thursday afternoon.
The only problem now is the weather. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable conditions at just 40 per cent because of a cold front and rain. Friday's outlook is much better: 80 per cent.
Atlantis will carry the European Space Agency's science lab, Columbus, to the orbiting outpost. It will join a U.S.-built lab already in operation at the space station.
The largest lab of all, Japan's Kibo, or Hope, is scheduled to be carried up in sections beginning next month.
Shuttle commander Stephen Frick said he was satisfied with the repairs to the fuel gauge system, which has troubled NASA for the last few years.
"We're feeling very good about this opportunity. We'll keep looking at the weather, but we're very happy about the condition of Atlantis,'' Frick said.
The fuel gauge problem was traced to a bad connector at the bottom of the shuttle's huge external fuel tank. The external portion of the connector was replaced with a newly soldered unit.
On Sunday night, a NASA technician was able to tuck a bent radiator hose into its payload bay retraction box.
NASA still hopes to get six shuttle launches off this year, even with Atlantis' two-month delay. The space station faces a 2010 completion date.
Then, the three remaining shuttles will be retired so the space agency can focus on returning astronauts to the moon, with eventual plans to fly to Mars.
In a video hookup with family members and friends in Ireland on Monday, space station astronaut Daniel Tani was asked by a young boy if he'd ever been to Mars.
"No, unfortunately, I have not been on Mars. In fact, no people have been on Mars yet. Mars is a long way away. It's going to take a long time to get there, but we're working toward it,'' said Tani, whose wife, Jane, is from Cork, Ireland.
Tani, in orbit since October, will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. A French air force general will fly up on Atlantis and take his place.
