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Space shuttle launch scrubbed due to fueling problem
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Update: the launch of Endeavour and her crew will be delayed for at least four days. A complicated schedule of conflicts with other launches on the Eastern Test Range, including NASA's own LRO lunar mission--now set for June 17--will have to be worked out.
Original story follows.
Saturday's launch of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station has been scrubbed due to a leak in the hydrogen fueling system.
Tanking was 98% completed when a leak developed in a gaseous hydrogen vent line. More information will be coming later from NASA officials.
Mission commander Mark Polansky promptly sent out this Twitter message:
Got the word that we're not going today. That's part of r business. Most important thing is to not launch til everything is ready.
The STS-119 launch in March was also delayed by a tanking problem. Tonight's fuel leak was "eerily similar", NASA manager Mike Leinback said in a press briefing. Earlier, NASA released this information:
Fueling was halted after the leak was detected near the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, or GUCP, which attached to the external tank at its intertank area. The line leads from the GUCP back to the launch pad and to the "flare stack" where vented gaseous hydrogen is burned off.
The leak is similar to what happened during the first launch attempt of space shuttle Discovery's STS-119 mission in March.
After the leak is assessed, shuttle managers plan to meet Saturday morning to discuss what steps to take next, including targeting a new launch date for Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station.
Here's the background on the STS-127 mission. The original launch time was set for 7:17 a.m. EDT.
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