NASA delayed a Wednesday morning lift-off of the space shuttle Discovery because of an apparent problem with a valve in its fuel tank and said the next possible launch opportunity was Friday. It was the second consecutive delay, after stormy weather postponed a launch attempt early on Tuesday.
Discovery and its seven-member crew were preparing for a 13-day supply mission to the International Space Station. The valve problem surfaced as technicians began fuelling up the shuttle for a launch set for 1:10 am EDT (0510 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"When we went to close the valve (after the hydrogen tank was full) we didn't get an indication that it was closed," Mike Moses, who oversees the shuttle program at the launch site, told reporters. Engineers believe the problem to be with instrumentation that monitors the valve, and not the valve itself, which would position NASA for a possible third launch attempt at 12:22 am EDT (0422 GMT) on Friday.