spacetoday.net: NASA reschedules STS-114 launch for July 26

Posted: Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 10:32 AM ET (1432 GMT)
STS-114: logo (NASA)

Shuttle managers said late Wednesday that they think they have tracked down the cause of a sensor glitch that postponed last week's scheduled launch of the shuttle Discovery, and now plan to perform a launch on Tuesday, July 26. Engineers believe that an electrical grounding problem with a "point sensor box" may have caused fuel sensor to malfunction, generating erroneous readings. Technicians will close out work over the next few days and the countdown will resume Saturday for a launch at 10:39 am EDT (1439 GMT) July 26. Even if the sensor fails again during the countdown managers are prepared to proceed with the count, provided the understand the nature of the failure. The sensor is one of four that measures the flow of liquid hydrogen into the shuttle's main engines. The current launch window closes at the end of the month, although officials are looking at ways to extend the window into the first few days of August, if necessary.