NATIONAL BRIEFING / FLORIDA

A space station air purifier was working again more than eight hours after it shut down Saturday. The repair by flight controllers at Cape Canaveral, albeit temporary, came as a great relief to NASA.

Even if the carbon-dioxide-removal system had remained broken, the shuttle Endeavour would not have had to undock early from the International Space Station, flight director Brian Smith said. But the system needs to work to support six station residents over the long term, he said. At the moment, 13 astronauts are on board.

The shuttle and its crew of seven will depart Tuesday, as originally planned.