Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- NASA postponed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery early today for 24 hours due to stormy weather, delaying the 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

The liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was put back to 1:10 a.m. local time tomorrow, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a broadcast on NASA Television.

The shuttle’s crew of seven astronauts aims to deliver supplies and equipment to the station including a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert, a freezer to store research samples and a new sleeping compartment.

NASA named the apparatus COLBERT, or Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, after the comedian urged viewers to suggest his name for a new pressurized module providing room for many of the station’s life support systems.

While his name received the most entries in NASA’s online poll, the agency dubbed the module “Tranquility” instead, after the site of the first moon landing 40 years ago.

The treadmill will allow station crews to exercise to avoid a type of bone loss experienced by astronauts and will be the second on the outpost.

Colbert, host of “The Colbert Report” on Viacom Inc.’s Comedy Central cable-television network, told NASA TV yesterday he “couldn’t be prouder” about the treadmill being named after him and said it will be used to “finally slim down all those chubby astronauts.”

Three Spacewalks

Three spacewalks are scheduled for Discovery’s mission. During the first two, astronauts will replace an empty tank to store ammonia, which is used to transfer excess heat from the station to its outside radiators.

During the final spacewalk, astronauts will prepare the station for the arrival of the Tranquility module, install a system to help hang spare parts and replace a device that helps determine the outpost’s position relative to Earth.

The shuttle will also bring astronaut Nicole Stott to the join the station’s crew, replacing Tim Kopra, who has been in space since July 15. Stott is scheduled to stay through November.

NASA has scheduled six more shuttle flights through September 2010 before the program is retired to make way for the next generation of manned U.S. spacecraft. Americans will fly on Russian vessels to the space station during the five years until the shuttle’s successor is built.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 25, 2009 01:45 EDT