NASA: Shuttle Launch on Monday

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Two weeks after space shuttle Endeavour's launch was postponed due to electrical problems, the orbiter appears ready to blast off on Monday morning, with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords once again expected to watch.

The Arizona congresswoman, who is recovering from an assassination attempt in January, will return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, staff members say, though they wouldn't disclose her exact travel plans. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is commanding Endeavour's mission.

Ms. Giffords flew to the space center for the previously scheduled liftoff on Apr. 29—an event that drew intense interest because of her attendance and that of President Barack Obama and his family.

Yet the mission—the next-to-last for the shuttle program—was scrubbed hours before takeoff, prompting Ms. Giffords to return to Houston for rehabilitation. On that trip, Ms. Giffords traveled with two nurses and climbed the stairs to the plane without assistance, according to Mark Kimble, a spokesman for her congressional office.

Once she was back in Houston, she and Mr. Kelly dined at an Italian restaurant owned by friends.

"She very much enjoyed the trip, and she is looking forward to doing it again," said Mr. Kimble.

Her ability to make a second journey so soon is the latest sign that she is continuing to recover at a pace that her doctors have called remarkable.

Ms. Giffords plans to watch the launch in private, out of view of media and the public.