Cape Canaveral, Fla. – NASA has indefinitely put off its long-awaited return to space, saying Friday that engineers were no closer to knowing why a fuel gauge acted up before a scheduled liftoff Wednesday.
“We are going forward on a day-by-day basis,” said deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. “We have got the entire resources of the agency behind us to troubleshoot this problem.”
He said that once the problem is identified and fixed, it would be another four days before the shuttle Discovery could launch.
“Everybody is going to want to ask, ‘What is that date going to be?”‘ Hale said. “Well, I don’t know.”
It was the latest setback in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s grueling and drawn-out quest to return to space and recover from the 2003 Columbia tragedy.
The space agency has made a multitude of safety improvements to the aging shuttle to avoid future catastrophes, efforts that have repeatedly delayed Discovery’s mission.
Engineers are looking at whether any of those safety improvements may be contributing to the failure of one of the four fuel gauges in the tank. When the gauge malfunctioned, Wednesday’s launch was canceled.
Hale said it’s possible NASA could try to launch again late this week, “but that would require a very near-term lucky find” of the source of the problem.
NASA is up against the clock. If extensive repairs are needed and the shuttle has to be moved off the launch pad, the flight could end up being bumped to ensure a daylight liftoff.
An important factor in when the shuttle is launched, the space agency needs a clear view of the ascending shuttle in order to spot any launch damage. When combined with the constantly changing location of the international space station, Discovery’s destination, this means the shuttle must fly by the end of July or remain grounded until Sept. 9.
NASA’s three surviving shuttles have been grounded ever since Columbia shattered in the sky over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts.
