There would be no countdown to launch after NASA delayed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour due to a hydrogen gas leak.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Saturday’s launching of the space shuttle Endeavour was called off because of a hydrogen leak similar to one that delayed a space shuttle launching in March.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration had been planning liftoff for 7:17 a.m.
During fueling of the liquid hydrogen, sensors detected a hydrogen leak at the valve next to
the external tank, creating a potential flammability problem. The launch was called off at 12:26 a.m.
A similar leak occurred during the launch countdown for the shuttle Discovery in March. “It was eerily the same,” said Michael D. Leinbach, the shuttle launch director, during a news conference early Saturday morning.
Replacing the seals around the valve delayed the Discovery launching by four days, and the Endeavour launching will also be delayed by at least four days.
Mission managers had originally said that if the Endeavour could not lift off by Monday, launching would be pushed back to July, because of the scheduled launching of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Wednesday.
The space shuttle Endeavour, which was to bring up the final pieces to complete the Japanese laboratory on the space station, will launch possibly June 20 or mid-July.
Michael P. Moses, chairman of the mission management team, said there would be discussions with the managers of the orbiter mission to see if both launches could fit into a small launch window in the coming week. “We’re going to have those negotiations,” he said.
If the orbiter lifted off as scheduled, the shuttle could possibly lift off on June 20. The need to prepare the launch area between the launchings prevents an attempt sooner.
Alternately, the shuttle could aim for Wednesday, pushing back the orbiter launch to June 20. “Nothing is a foregone decision,” Mr. Moses said.
The orbiter has only a four-day window to squeeze onto a trajectory to the moon. Its next launch window would be two weeks later.
If the Endeavour cannot launch by June 20, the mission must be pushed back to July 11, because of temperature constraints related to the orbit of the International Space Station.
The Endeavour will bring up the final pieces to complete a Japanese laboratory on the space station. The mission is scheduled to last 16 days, and is only the second time that a shuttle mission has been planned to last that long.
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