Shuttle Launch Time Moved to Avoid Rain

NASA moved up the scheduled liftoff of space shuttle Columbia by 47 minutes in hopes of beating approaching thunderstorms. But even with the change, forecasters gave the space agency only a 10% chance of launching the 16-day science mission today. The weather at Kennedy Space Center is not expected to improve until Thursday. Columbia is carrying experiments that were first aboard an April mission that was troubled by electrical problems, forcing its end after only four days. By moving up the launch to 1:50 p.m. local time, NASA relinquished one of four opportunities to land the shuttle in daylight. Nighttime landings are considered more dangerous.