Wind stops launch

DESPITE the cancellation of Nasa’s third balloon launch attempt, team spirit has not deflated.

Nasa’s balloon programme officer chief Debbie Fairbrother said it was well understood in the balloon community that Mother Nature was in charge.

‘‘And with that lesson, we’ve all become very good at practising patience,’’ Ms Fairbrother said.

The cancellation yesterday was decided at 7am because of a crosswind at ground and lowerlevels.

There are no planned launch attempts for this weekend, due to poor launch weather forecasts.

The rescheduled launch date will be announced early next week after monitoring weather conditions daily.