Minutes before launch was scrubbed space shuttle Endeavour waits for liftoff on Launch Pad 39A.

Minutes before launch was scrubbed, space shuttle Endeavour waits for liftoff on Launch Pad 39A. The scrub was due to weather conditions near the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy that violated rules for launching. The runway would be needed in the unlikely event that Endeavour would have to make an emergency landing back at Kennedy. Launch was rescheduled for July 13 at 6:51 p.m. EDT. This was the fourth launch attempt for the STS-127 mission. The first two launch attempts on June 13 and June 17 were scrubbed when a hydrogen gas leak occurred during tanking due to a misaligned Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate. Mission managers also decided to delay tanking on July 11 for a launch attempt later in the day to allow engineers and safety personnel time to analyze data captured during lightning strikes near the pad on July 10. Endeavour will deliver the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF, and the Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, in the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. STS-127 is the 29th flight for the assembly of the space. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews