KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida -- NASA technicians are scratching their heads over a fuel tank glitch that forced mission planners to postpone the launch of space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday.
The glitch, which causes a sensor to incorrectly report the amount of fuel in the tank, popped up just two and a half hours before Discovery and its crew of seven were to blast into space. Technicians had observed a similar problem on a different tank in the past but were not able to determine the cause.
"This is intermittent. When we can explain it, we will," said NASA chief Michael Griffin during a press conference Wednesday.
The space agency has not yet set a new launch date. It is unlikely to be sooner than next week.
Technicians will now have to drain the tank and prepare it for further tests -- a process that will take no fewer than two days, according to Wayne Hale, deputy manager for the shuttle program.
"(We examined the) absolutely best-case kind of scenario and we decided that we would not, in any conceivable way, be able to launch by Saturday," said Hale.
The last-minute decision to postpone the launch came as a blow to many at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, who have been preparing for the mission for nearly two and a half years. Discovery is the first shuttle NASA has prepared for launch since Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere in 2003, killing all seven astronauts onboard.
"There are long faces in the control center," said an unidentified NASA spokesman providing commentary from the control room. "We are all disappointed. But we'll fly again on another day."
The tank glitch is the second mishap to befall the shuttle in the last 24 hours. On Tuesday evening, a protective plastic covering fell from a window and damaged a heat-resistant tile near the shuttle's tail. Technicians repaired the damage quickly and the launch schedule was not affected.
Sen. John Kerry, who visited Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday to watch the launch, said NASA employees should not give up hope.
"This is a complicated business. It's one of the most complex vehicles ever designed by human beings and it's inevitable you're going to wind up with these kinds of fixes," said Kerry.
"I think you should look at today as not purely a disappointment but as a system that's working," he added. "The check system is working and the process found something that needed to be addressed. So, the astronauts are safe, the shuttle's on the ground and they will address it."
