The launch of the space shuttle Discovery has been pushed back to Tuesday after NASA uncovered helium and nitrogen leaks.

The launch was originally scheduled for Monday, but NASA is now aiming for Nov. 2 at 4:17pm Eastern time. It will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"Managers are meeting to discuss the plan to repair helium and nitrogen leaks in the pressurization portion of space shuttle Discovery's right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod," NASA said in a Friday statement. "The leaks must be fixed before launch and the decision was made to delay picking up the launch countdown by at least a day."

The launch is now set for election day. Given that NASA employees can't exactly leave their desks to run out and vote on Tuesday, NASA encouraged its workers to take advantage of early voting or absentee ballot options if they want to participate.

NASA said the 11-day mission will deliver key spare parts as well as a humanoid robot to the International Space Center. It will also include two separate space walks.

This will be the Discovery's 39th mission; it is the oldest vessel in the space shuttle fleet and is set to retire in February 2011.

Astronaut Nicole Stott will send mission updates to her Twitter handle, @Astro_Nicole. NASA has also asked the public to choose the songs that will wake astronauts up on the flight. In the past, this decision has been left to friends and family of the crew, but the public can vote on NASA's Web site.