Solar Flare Delays Rocket Launch

KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - The launch of an Athena rocket, which had already been delayed, was postponed another 48 hours on Tuesday as the effects of Monday morning's solar flare intensified, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.

According to experts on space weather, conditions would not be acceptable for a launch until about 3.5 days after the peak of the solar flare, the statement said.

The launch of the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Defense Department was rescheduled for no earlier than 9:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday. The launch will be the fourth from the Kodiak rocket complex but the first orbital launch.

Satellites aboard the rocket include the Starshine 3, a student-built reflective sphere designed to be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

The launch had been delayed by weather and equipment problems, and by the nationwide grounding of aircraft - prompted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - that kept technicians from arriving on Kodiak Island.

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