Columbia Passes Fuel Leak Test; Launch Planned for December

The space shuttle Columbia passed an elaborate fueling test Tuesday after months of work to fix dangerous hydrogen leaks, and jubilant NASA officials said the craft will be prepared for a December launch.

“We ended up with a tight ship,” shuttle director Robert L. Crippen said. “As far as we’re concerned right now, Columbia is ready to go fly as soon as we put it through its final launch preps.”

It is the first time in five months that all three shuttles are clear for flight. Atlantis was found to be free of hydrogen leaks during a fueling test last week and is scheduled to lift off Nov. 9 with a satellite that reportedly will spy on Iraq. The shuttle Discovery completed a successful mission earlier this month.

Launch director Bob Sieck said NASA’s image is bound to improve now that the entire fleet is back in service.

“Launching space shuttles and reputation, they are tied together,” Sieck said. “Safely and successfully carrying out these missions, which is our goal, is only going to help the reputation and our cause to keep the program going.”

During Tuesday’s three-hour test, Columbia’s external tank was filled with more than 385,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen to pinpoint any more of the dangerous leaks that have kept the shuttle grounded since May. A small amount of hydrogen escaped into the engine compartment but was well within allowable limits.

It was NASA’s most extensive fueling test of a shuttle. Ten TV cameras and 17 sensors were mounted in the engine compartment, the site of previous leakage.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has tried four times to send Columbia on an astronomy mission. New fuel lines were installed after the first attempt, but hydrogen later flooded the engine compartment.