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The American space programme’s run of bad luck continues—and now the
weather is to blame. A thunderstorm at Cape Canaveral in Florida on 8 May soaked
a navigation satellite and pelted the space shuttle Discovery with hail, pitting
the foam covering its external fuel tank. The soaked satellite, a Global
Positioning System transmitter aboard a Delta 2 rocket, got wet when rain leaked
through the roof of a clean room. These problems follow a string of failed launches
(This Week, 15 May, p 15).
While both launches are expected to be
delayed, it’s not yet clear for how long.