The final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavor, to be led by Capt. Mark Kelly, has been delayed for at least 10 days due to a glitch in the schedule, a source close to the project revealed Sunday. Instead of April 19, the mission will launch April 29. It will be the last for Endeavour and the 134^th and second to the last for NASA’s space shuttle program.

The six-man Endeavor crew was getting ready for dress rehearsal for launch day amidst severe thunderstorms that rolled through the coast of Florida last week. The storm brought winds reaching up to 90 miles per hour bringing hailstones to the area near the launch pad. However, sources day that it was not the cause for the launch delay. The conflict in schedule was attributed to the launch of the Russian resupply craft Progress, blasting off a few days after Endeavour. The craft cannot dock at the International Space Station while Endeavour was completing its mission.

NASA tried to persuade the Russians to concur to an agreement that will allow the Progress into a “parking” orbit until Endeavour’s mission has been completed. However, the deal broke down forcing NASA to delay the launch to April 29. This was not the first time that the program has experienced a delay in its mission. Endeavour was initially scheduled for a November mission. This was supposed to make history with brothers Mark and Scott Kelly meeting in orbit. The latter was commander of the International Space Station. However, the launch was moved to February and eventually April 19. Scott Kelly returned to earth last month on board a Russian Soyuz.

The shuttle’s commander Mark Kelly left the mission for several weeks to attend to his injured wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and returned to training in early February, after they moved to the TIRR rehabilitation facility in Houston where she will continue her path to recovery.

During the mission, Endeavour will carry in its payload the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an eight ton physics experiment aimed at probing space for dark matter which could provide the answers to the origin of the universe. It will be transferred and installed to the International Space Station. The mission will also have the crew make four space walks and rendezvous with the International Space Station.

In a press conference a couple of weeks ago, Capt. Mark Kelly said that he is privileged to be leading Space Shuttle Endeavour to its final mission. The spacecraft is set to be retired after it returns to earth.

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