The planned launch today of Atlantis has turned into a tanking test in the wake of the failure of one of four suspect low-level hydrogen sensors in the shuttle's external tank.The launch attempt was officially called off at 7:24 a.m., but fuel-loading operations are continuing so that engineers can gather more data on persistent problems with the Engine Cutoff, or ECO, sensors.
NASA Launch Director Doug Lyons will be talking with launch commentator George Diller in the next few minutes. You can watch it live here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the image at the top of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer.
NASA's Mission Management Team will convene about 9 a.m. to determine a course of action. Options include another launch attempt Monday or more troubleshooting efforts at the launch pad prior to a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.
In any event, a launch delay until January is in the cards. NASA must launch Atlantis by Thursday or stand down because sun angles on the International Space Station will be such that the outpost would not be able to generate enough power, or dispel enough heat, to support the orbital complex and a visiting shuttle.
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