spacetoday.net: Hydrogen leak scrubs shuttle launch

Hydrogen leak scrubs shuttle launch

Posted: Sat, Jun 13, 2009, 6:26 AM ET (1026 GMT)

NASA postponed Saturday's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour after detecting a hydrogen leak several hours before the scheduled liftoff time. Endeavour was on track to launch on mission STS-127 at 7:17 am EDT (1117 GMT) Saturday when a leak developed in a gaseous hydrogen venting system on the shuttle's external tank, a leak similar to one that delayed the launch of the STS-119 mission earlier this year. The launch is now postponed to no earlier than Wednesday June 17; an updated launch time will be announced Sunday after engineers examine the leak. Currently the 17th is reserved for the launch of NASA's LRO and LCROSS lunar missions on an Atlas 5. Endeavour needs to launch by June 20 or it will have to stand down until July 11.