The Nation - News from Aug. 4, 1988

NASA technicians failed to find the source of a launch pad hydrogen gas leak, but a countdown proceeded for the crucial test firing of space shuttle Discovery’s engines today. “They did everything they could do, but they couldn’t locate the leak,” NASA spokesman George Diller said. Shuttle managers ordered the countdown to continue toward a 7:30 a.m. firing of the spaceship’s three main engines. The test is vital to certifying Discovery for the first shuttle flight since Challenger and its crew of seven were lost in an explosion Jan. 28, 1986. Launch director Bob Sieck said if the leak, which he described as very small, develops again during the fueling of Discovery’s fuel tank late in the count, the launch team hopes to control it enough with pressurization techniques to complete the fueling.