Weather To Get Final Vote On Saturday Shuttle Launch

July 10, 2009 5:13 p.m. EST

Cape Canaveral, FL (AHN) - The six-man, one-woman crew of Shuttle Endeavour has thumbs up for Saturday evening's launch. But the weather will have the final vote.

Forecasters say the scheduled 7:39 p.m. launch, after two attempts were scuttled by a hydrogen fuel leak, has only a 40 percent chance of good weather.

The shuttle hopes to begin a 16-day journey to the International Space Station, where a porch-like structure will be installed on the outside of the station that will hold instruments for a Japanese lab.

Five planned pace walks will install the porch and perform maintenance.

The arrival of the Endeavour will boost the population of the ISS to 13 persons.

Shuttle crew members are commander Mark Polansky, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette.