NASA has again pushed back the launch of the shuttle Atlantis as it wrestles with faulty fuel sensors, Space.com reports. The shuttle will go up Jan. 24 at the earliest, with a more likely launch either Feb. 2 or 7. Atlantis is due to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station, provided engineers can fix malfunctioning sensors that first delayed the mission last month.
"Everything has to go exactly right for us to make the 24th," said a flight manager, who expressed confidence that engineers have zeroed in on the problem. If the launch is delayed much longer, it will cause a chain reaction of delays for subsequent missions. (More shuttle stories.)