CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Strong crosswinds at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday forced NASA to scrub the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on a repair and supply mission to the International Space Station.

The high winds could have imperiled an emergency landing if the shuttle had been required to return to Earth after lift-off.

"It looks like the winds are a little too high today and we're not going to be able to make it,'' launch director Dave King told shuttle commander James Halsell a few minutes before the shuttle's scheduled 4:17 p.m. EDT launch.

"We understand the rationale,'' Halsell called back.

The U.S. space agency began a 24-hour turnaround for the launch but with thunderstorms in the forecast for Tuesday, mission managers will make a final decision before dawn on whether to begin reloading the shuttle with 500,000 gallons of rocket fuel.

Full Story: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000424/ts/space_shuttle_9.html