11-05-2010, 10:33 AM
scrubbed again.
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA again scrubbed the launch of space shuttle Discovery early today because of a potentially dangerous leak of hydrogen gas – a delay that may push the supply mission to the International Space Station into next month.
Hydrogen fuel began leaking early Friday morning, midway through the fueling process. NASA says it's the same type of problem that caused lengthy delays for two shuttle missions in 2009.
NASA internal e-mails said engineers are trying to fix the leak for a launch attempt on Sunday, but said that they could try Monday at the close of the launch window.
Discovery's final mission is already running four days late because of technical and weather problems.
Until now, NASA had said the agency needed to launch Discovery by Sunday or delay the launch until Dec. 1. However, mission managers now say there was a chance that they may be able to complete the mission if they can launch by Monday.
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After that, NASA would have to wait a month because the angle of the sun on the space station for the rest of the month is such that the shuttle would get too hot for docked operations.
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA again scrubbed the launch of space shuttle Discovery early today because of a potentially dangerous leak of hydrogen gas – a delay that may push the supply mission to the International Space Station into next month.
Hydrogen fuel began leaking early Friday morning, midway through the fueling process. NASA says it's the same type of problem that caused lengthy delays for two shuttle missions in 2009.
NASA internal e-mails said engineers are trying to fix the leak for a launch attempt on Sunday, but said that they could try Monday at the close of the launch window.
Discovery's final mission is already running four days late because of technical and weather problems.
Until now, NASA had said the agency needed to launch Discovery by Sunday or delay the launch until Dec. 1. However, mission managers now say there was a chance that they may be able to complete the mission if they can launch by Monday.
Get the day's top stories in your inbox. Click here to sign up for the Midday Update newsletter
After that, NASA would have to wait a month because the angle of the sun on the space station for the rest of the month is such that the shuttle would get too hot for docked operations.