Posted: Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 11:25 PM ET (0325 GMT)
NASA shuttle managers said Thursday afternoon that the earliest possible launch date for Discovery is Sunday, and could be much later. Wednesday's scheduled launch of the orbiter was scrubbed because of a malfunction with a fuel sensor on the shuttle's external tank; at the time of the scrub officials said that the launch would be pushed back until no earlier than Saturday. NASA tested the sensors on the external tank Thursday but were unable to track down the source of the problem. Technicians plan to continue troubleshooting the problem and managers said the earliest they could launch is Sunday, although they say that would be a "really optimistic good-luck scenario". The shuttle launch window remains open through the end of the month, and officials said they still believe they will be able to launch Discovery before the window closes. If they do no, the next launch window opens in early September.
