CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Shuttle workers trying to locate the source of an oxygen leak in Endeavour which canceled NASA's launch plans on Monday inadvertently bumped the shuttle's robot arm while installing work platforms, tearing insulation and possibly causing more severe damage, UPI has learned.
"There was some slight damage to the (insulating) blanket that covers the arm," Kennedy Space Center Bruce Buckingham told United Press International. "They're looking at it tonight to get some more data."
Managers plan to meet on Wednesday to review Endeavour's launch status. NASA canceled plans to launch the shuttle about three hours before liftoff early Monday due to an oxygen leak in the orbiter's midbody. The system provides oxygen to the crew cabin and to the astronauts' helmets during launch and landing.
So far, workers have been unable to locate the source of the leak, said Buckingham.
If managers decide to remove the 14-ton space station truss segment, which is awaiting delivery in the shuttle's payload bay, launch will be delayed beyond the week NASA had already determined would be necessary to find and fix the leak.
Buckingham said he had not heard that the robot arm incident might require the ship's removal from the launch pad for inspections in the shuttle processing hangar.
In addition to installing the new truss segment on the space station, Endeavour will be ferrying a new three-member resident crew to the outpost.
