Shuttle Tank Repair To Delay Lab Launch

Washington (dbtechno) - The discovery of a faulty electrical connection in the fuel tank of the U.S. Space shuttle Atlantis is pushing back the launch date of several projects. Included in the list is the premier of the first permanent space laboratory for Europe.

There have been two separate attempts in December to move ahead with the launch of shuttle Atlantis, which would carry the new European lab to its new home in the International Space Station.

Both times the launch was canceled or postponed then canceled due to fuel sensors that were not working properly. The fuel sensors are part of the vital engine cutoff emergency system.

At this point NASA had hoped to reschedule and launch as early as January 10th, 2008, but with the newest failure of the fuel sensor system, that date will be delayed anywhere from a few days to as long and a few weeks.

Wayne Hale said, “We most definitely need to solve this problem. Then we can be concerned about scheduling and the launch date.” Mr. Hale is the program manager for the NASA shuttle.

The NASA crew and engineers that have examined the situation believe the problem resides in a plug like connector that is supposed to relay electrical impulses to the shuttle engine from sensors in the fuel tank system.

The faulty connector is slated to be removed and taken to Huntsville, Alabama for analysis and testing. Marshall Space Center is located in Huntsville, and has the ability to diagnose and repair the connector if needed.

Engineers propose that if nothing can be found amiss, that pins could be soldered into place that would bypass the plug connector. This problem seems to be similar in scope to a fuel sensor issue that came up repeatedly with the Atlas class of rockets.

The solder pin solution fixed the problem back when it arose with those rockets in the 1960’s and 1970’s.