CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA is filling space shuttle
Endeavour's fuel tank for a leak test.
Launch controllers began pumping a half-million gallons of
liquid hydrogen and oxygen into the external fuel tank early
Wednesday morning. They want to see whether repairs have plugged a
hydrogen gas leak that prevented Endeavour from blasting off last
Endeavour won't be flying Wednesday. But if the leak is fixed,
NASA will try to send the shuttle to the international space
station on July 11.
During two launch attempts in June, hydrogen gas escaped from a
plate on the fuel tank that attaches to a vent line. Engineers
believe a slight misalignment of the plate was to blame. A new type
of seal and special washers were installed to correct the problem.