WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- An unidentified worker sabotaged wires of a computer that is to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour next month, NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier told media reporters Thursday.

NASA's Inspector General Office has launched an investigation, and the sabotage won't delay the planned Aug. 7 launch of shuttle Endeavour, the federal space agency said.

The employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside a computer that is supposed to be delivered to the International Space Station. The worker also deliberately damaged a similar computer that was not meant to fly to space.

The sabotage happened outside Florida, and was caught before the computer was loaded into the payload of Endeavour. But Gerstenmaier did not give further details. "It (the computer) will be repaired and it will fly on this (Endeavour) flight," said Gerstenmaier.

The subcontractor responsible for building the damaged computer box reported the apparent wire sabotage about a week ago, said Gerstenmaier. He would not disclose the name of the subcontractor while an investigation is underway.