Houston (Texas):
Thunderstorms and high winds forced NASA to abandon a first attempt to land the space shuttle Discovery, which earlier dodged debris as it prepared for a high-speed descent to Earth.
"We will wave off this attempt," Eric Boe, mission control's shuttle communicator, told astronauts seeking to return home at the end of a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.
Favourable conditions at Edwards on Friday were forecast to worsen on Saturday due to winds kicked up by Hurricane Linda in the Pacific ocean. The shuttle is equipped with enough provisions to remain in orbit through Sunday.
The crew earlier carried out a 14-second evasive manoeuvre to prevent Discovery from hitting a piece of debris that had apparently drifted away from the shuttle during a spacewalk Saturday, mission control said.