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NATIONAL BRIEFING / FLORIDA

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Times Wire Reports

Bad weather prevented the space shuttle Discovery from returning home to Florida and kept its astronauts circling the world for at least one additional day.

Mission Control skipped the first landing attempt at Cape Canaveral because of wind and rain.

The wind eased but the rain lingered for the second attempt, and officials were not comfortable bringing Discovery and its crew of seven back from their International Space Station delivery mission, now stretching 14 days.

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Discovery’s next chance at returning will be today. Late Thursday, Mission Control officials decided to call up the backup landing site -- Edwards Air Force Base -- for the next go-around.

If the weather remains poor in Florida, then the shuttle will be diverted to Edwards.

Discovery has enough supplies to remain in orbit until Sunday.

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