Click on the image to see a larger version of this illustration. The connector is located in the lower part of Atlantis' external tank.
After removing foam protection on Friday, technicians were scheduled to remove a suspect connector from Atlantis' external tank today.
The failed connector, which scrubbed launches on Dec. 6 and 9, will be sent away for testing. It provides readings from redundant low-fuel sensors in the bottom of the external tank and instruments that would shut down the shuttle's main engines before the turbopumps ran dry and flew apart.
NASA has proposed soldering the connector in the spots where only friction was used to maintain an electrical connection.
NASA has announced that a Jan. 10 launch date is not possible, but the agency has set no other target for launch. Mating of the solid rocket boosters and the external tank for Endeavour's Feb. 14 mission has been put on hold, raising concerns about further delays to other missions in 2008.
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