Shuttle Launching Reset for Today

Fuel leaks forced postponement of space shuttle Atlantis’ launching, but NASA said it fixed the problem and rescheduled liftoff for today.

Launch director Bob Sieck said he was confident the trouble was not a recurrence of the hydrogen leaks that grounded the shuttle fleet for almost half a year in 1990.

NASA said it hoped for an 5 a.m. PST liftoff.

The seven astronauts had not yet boarded Atlantis when the launching was scrubbed Monday.

Unusually high levels of hydrogen and oxygen were detected in the engine compartment early in the day, shortly after fueling began.

The launch team tried to duplicate the seepage by loading more propellant, but nothing leaked.

Sieck said that indicated the problem was temporary and in the Teflon seals, rather than the extensive plumbing between the external fuel tank and the orbiter and its rocket engines.

NASA officials estimated the postponement cost $500,000, including fuel and labor.

Researchers have been working on the mission since the early 1980s. It is part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth study of the environment from space, and the first of several atmospheric research missions planned through the next decade.