Shuttle Leak Delays Launching Indefinitely

Columbia will have to be returned to a hangar to repair a fuel leak, indefinitely delaying the launching of the shuttle and its $1.5-million Astro observatory, NASA officials said Wednesday.

The announcement was made after a hydrogen leak reappeared in a test.

“Unfortunately, we don’t like what we found,” launch director Bob Sieck said. “It’s good news, bad news. It’s good that we found it, and it’s unfortunate that it’s going to be an impact to fix it.”

Wednesday’s test, in which liquid hydrogen was pumped into Columbia, confirmed the leak in a tight cavity between two metal plates that connect the orbiter and the external tank, Sieck said.

“In order to fix anything in this area, we’re going to have to de-mate the orbiter from the tank” in the hangar, he said.

Sieck refused to estimate when Columbia might be able to lift off. National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials have said it would take about a month to return the shuttle to the hangar and perform repairs.