Shuttle Launch: Take 2

March 14, 2009

NASA plans to try again Sunday to launch space shuttle Discovery on a construction mission to the International Space Station after fixing a fuel leak that triggered a delay last week.

Blastoff is set for 7:43 p.m. EDT (2343 GMT) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Engineers installed new seals in a fuel vent line, hoping that will nip the problem that halted NASA’s first launch attempt on Wednesday when hydrogen gas leaked out from the shuttle’s fuel tank, posing a fire hazard.

Technicians were unable to find the exact cause of the leak.

“I was a little surprised that we didn’t find something more obvious because it was a healthy leak,” shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told reporters on Saturday.

Still, if the shuttle doesn’t leak when it is fueled for flight on Sunday, it will be safe to fly, he added.

NASA plans to start filling the shuttle’s tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen at about 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Sunday.

NASA has until Tuesday to launch the shuttle or face a delay until April 7 to avoid a schedule conflict with a Russia-led Soyuz mission to replace the station’s prime crew.

Discovery will be carrying the fourth and final solar power module for the U.S.-part of the station.

(Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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