NASA Scrubs Shuttle Launch

Hydrogen gas leak forces Endeavour's launch to be called off a second time

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 17, 2009 2:17 AM CDT

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NASA Scrubs Shuttle Launch — Members of the media look on as the rotating service structure pulls away from the space shuttle Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center yesterday. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

A hydrogen gas leak has forced NASA to call off the launch of the space shuttle for the second time in less than a week, AP reports. The glitch, discovered just hours before blastoff, means Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station will now be delayed until July 11 because of unfavorable sun angles.

NASA officials said the potentially dangerous leak was in the same place as the one that delayed Saturday's launch, but the cause of the problem has not been discovered. The shuttle and its crew of seven are due to deliver hundreds of pounds of food to the space station, along with the final segment of Japan's gigantic space station lab.
(More NASA stories.)

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