Observers: Shuttle Can't Launch That Early Even invested
optimists like NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale have
their doubts. "It is theoretically possible that we could still
launch on Sunday," Hale said, quoted by the Palm Beach Post.
"But I've got to tell you that this represents a really
optimistic good-luck scenario, which I think is not very
credible." This, after NASA engineers remained stumped Thursday
over the failure of a fuel depletion sensor within the shuttle's
huge external fuel tank. That failure forced NASA to scrub
Wednesday's launch about two hours before lift-off. Hale has
formed a dozen teams to troubleshoot the problem. The faulty
sensor is one of four inside the tank and is absolutely
necessary to prevent the shuttle's main engine from trying to
run without fuel. The sensors control fuel pumps that typically
spin at 40,000 rpm. If those pumps continued to spin without
fuel, they'd tear themselves -- and the shuttle -- apart.
Engineers were able to duplicate the problem Thursday. Whi