Bad weather forces shuttle to skip 1st landing try

(AP) -- Bad weather has delayed space shuttle Discovery's homecoming.

NASA decided to skip its first landing attempt late Thursday afternoon. Mission Control ordered the seven astronauts to keep circling the world while they waited out stiff wind and rain in Florida.

The second landing attempt is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. Thursday. If poor weather is still an issue, the shuttle will have to try to come home Friday.

The forecast for Florida on Friday is worse, with little improvement Saturday. NASA says if necessary, it will consider the backup landing site in California as early as Friday.

There was a bit of excitement earlier Thursday when the astronauts steered clear of a mysterious piece of orbiting space junk.

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