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Atlantis To Try Again In January

AP photo by TERRY RENNA

Space Shuttle Atlantis is seen on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. NASA managers delayed the launch of Atlantis until January after a gauge in the fuel tank failed for the second time in four days.

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By KURT LOFT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 9, 2007

Read Kurt Loft's Blog

Video: NASA Reschedules Launch | Space Station Explained

TAMPA - It doesn't take much to ground the world's most sophisticated flying machine.

NASA broke its string of on-time shuttle missions this year with today's scrubbed launch of Atlantis, its second attempt in four days. Officials at Kennedy Space Center were left scratching their heads over why fuel sensors that are designed to be dependable keep going kaput. Faulty sensors also delayed two other shuttle missions recently.

"This has been a cloud that's always been over us," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations. "We thought we had it fixed."

The glitch means Atlantis' seven astronauts will have to wait until at least Jan. 2 to begin their mission to the International Space Station. On Tuesday, a team at Kennedy Space Center will decide whether to test the sensors on the pad or roll the shuttle back to the garage for repairs.

Although the launch team was disappointed Sunday, the problem also gives engineers time to troubleshoot, and possibly improve, a lingering weakness in the shuttle system, Gerstenmaier said.

"This can be a huge advantage for us."

The shuttle has four engine cutoff sensors, or ECOs, located at the bottom of the big orange fuel tank. Each is equipped with a "sensing element" that looks like a small integrated circuit. It monitors the flow of liquid oxygen and hydrogen to the shuttle's three main engines. If more than two fail during flight, a misreading could result in the engines shutting down too soon, possibly resulting in an explosion.

Thursday, two ECOs shut down 16 minutes after the launch team began fueling 500,000 gallons of fuel into the tank. Then at 7:24 a.m. today, a single sensor gave out less than three minutes into the fueling process.

The team will try to recreate the sensor problem in a test fueling this week, said flight director LeRoy Kane.

"Our hope is we can go do some troubleshooting and a tanking test," he said. "Our goal is a 'repeat failure' to capture it and narrow down the problem. We're going to do everything we can with the system at the pad."

The scrubbed launch puts more pressure on NASA's timetable in completing the space station by 2010. Atlantis is to deliver Columbus, a European-built science lab that will be attached to the station. Once astronauts install Columbus, the massive orbiting facility will be 60 percent complete. In February, another shuttle is to carry up a Japanese laboratory, making the station a truly international project.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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