spacetoday.net: Valve problem delays Discovery

Posted: Wed, Aug 26, 2009, 7:41 AM ET (1141 GMT)

Shuttle managers Tuesday delayed the next launch attempt of Discovery until at least Friday because of a valve problem detected during fueling. NASA had hoped to launch Discovery on mission STS-128 early Wednesday, but during the fueling process a valve did not appear to close as desired. Engineers are uncertain if this is just an instrumentation problem or if the valve did not properly close, and decided to scrub the launch attempt and perform further tests. If the problem is only with instrumentation, it's likely that the shuttle would be cleared for launch at 12:22 am EDT (0422 GMT) Friday, but if there is something wrong with the valve itself, shuttle managers said it's unlikely it could be fixed before the current launch window closes on Sunday. Managers will confer on midday Thursday to discuss the status of the problem before giving the go-ahead for another launch attempt.