http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050715/ts_nm/space_shuttle_dc_55;_ylt=AhLKotoF3boEnwGLpe9H2UEYAjMB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
NASA's shuttle launch off till late next week
By Irene Klotz and Michael Christie
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA said on Friday that the earliest it
could launch the space shuttle Discovery on the first shuttle mission
since the 2003 Columbia accident would be late next week, after liftoff
was postponed two days ago because of a technical problem.
The U.S. space agency said it had formally halted the countdown as
engineers searched for the cause of the fault that prevented Discovery's
launch.
"We are backing out, standing down from the countdown, which means the
next launch attempt will be late next week at the earliest," a NASA
spokesman told reporters. More details would be revealed at a news
conference late Friday.
Discovery had been due to blast off on Wednesday afternoon from Cape
Canaveral in Florida, the first shuttle mission since its sister ship
Columbia broke apart over Texas in February 2003, killing the seven crew.
But a faulty hydrogen fuel sensor forced NASA to call off the launch two
hours before liftoff.
Early on Friday, technicians removed propellants from the shuttle's
onboard power generators, NASA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said.
"Technically, in a perfect world and if there was an easy fix, we could
get back into the countdown (Friday) night, but we need to let the teams
go and figure out the problem and how to fix it," Rye said.
During a typical countdown, removing the onboard propellants would reset a
shuttle's three-day launch countdown clock back to the starting position.
HYDROGEN SENSORS
NASA engineers still do not know why one of Discovery's four hydrogen
sensors failed a routine test as the clock ticked down toward liftoff and
the crew members, led by veteran astronaut Eileen Collins, were being
strapped into their seats. Engineers are working through around 200
possible scenarios.
The sensors are designed to make the shuttle's three main engines shut
down before fuel runs out.
A premature shutdown of the engines could force the spacecraft to make an
emergency landing or prevent it from reaching its desired orbit.
Although launch delays are common, the glitches preventing Discovery from
getting off the launch pad are receiving heightened scrutiny because the
shuttle is the first to fly since NASA grounded the fleet for safety
upgrades following the loss of Columbia.
Columbia's wing was damaged during launch by a piece of foam insulation
that fell off its fuel tank. As it flew through the atmosphere for
landing, superheated gases blasted into the wing and destroyed the ship.
NASA has until July 31 to launch Discovery, a deadline dictated by its
planned rendezvous with the International Space Station and a new
requirement that shuttle launches take place in daylight so cameras will
have clear views of liftoff.
The next launch window begins on Sept. 9. NASA had planned to use the
September launch window to fly the space shuttle Atlantis on the agency's
second post-Columbia mission.
"I'm not ready to give up on the July window at this point," deputy
shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said on Thursday. "We still have more
than two weeks ahead of us, so that's the way we're headed."
He added, however, that flight planners already were trying to figure out
if a three-day launch window in November could be expanded to accommodate
Atlantis' flight if Discovery had to take the September launch slot.
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