Recurring hydrogen leak stops final space shuttle launch
Friday, November 5, 2010 at 06:18PM
By Irene Klotz (Reuters) - A hydrogen leak forced NASA on Friday to scrub the launch of space shuttle Discovery for a fourth time this week, pushing back the blastoff at least until November 30.
Discovery's 39th and final flight was called off about seven hours before the scheduled 3:04 p.m. EDT liftoff on a cargo-delivery mission to the International Space Station.
As liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were flowing into the fuel tank of the orbiter, which has been in service for more than a quarter century, a hydrogen leak developed in a venting system between the shuttle and the launch pad.
NASA wrestled with similar leaks in this area before two shuttle launches last year and believed engineers had solved the problem. The leak not only returned on Friday but was much bigger than previously seen and showed up much earlier.
"This, unfortunately, is not a stranger to us," said Mike Moses, who heads a team that oversees the shuttle launches. "Hopefully there's something glaringly wrong with the (equipment) as opposed to not knowing what's going on with it."
It will take until Saturday to purge remaining hydrogen from the tank so workers can begin inspections. Initially, NASA aimed for a new launch attempt on Monday, but decided not to press it.
"We suspect that's enough time to go fix the problem, but you never know what you're going to find," said launch director Mike Leinbach.
"We want to take our time and make sure we don't rush to get in a Monday launch," added Moses.
Monday was the last day to launch until November 30 because of heating issues related to the angle of the sun on the shuttle while it is docked at the station and because of previously scheduled station activities.
TANK FOAM CRACK
Engineers also were assessing a potentially dangerous crack in foam on the shuttle's external fuel tank, which on its own might have halted the launch had the hydrogen leak not occurred.
The U.S. space agency has been meticulous about the condition of the tank foam since losing shuttle Columbia and seven astronauts in a 2003 accident triggered by a chunk of foam falling off the tank during liftoff.
When Discovery finally lifts off, it will carry a storage pod, spare parts and supplies for the space station, as well as a prototype humanoid robot flying as a technology demonstration project.
Managers called off a launch attempt on Thursday because of bad weather around the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida. The launch originally was set for November 1, but was delayed twice by other glitches.
Discovery's flight is among the last planned for the space shuttle program, which is ending next year to free up money for spaceships and rockets that can travel to asteroids and eventually Mars, places beyond the shuttles' range.
NASA hopes to support commercial options for flying astronauts to the space station. Once the shuttles are retired, only Russia will have spaceships that can fly people to the space station.
China, the only other country that has sent people in space, is not a member of the 16-nation International Space Station partnership.
The station, which cost about $100 billion, has been under construction 220 miles above Earth since 1998.
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