Chad Bryant from the external tank office, left, is team lead on testing of the external tank 125 feed-through connector. At right, Greg Vinyard is installing the connector in preparation for testing.
At Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, testing of a faulty feed-through connector has begun. Technicians and engineers will expose the connector to the same cryogenic conditions it experienced when it failed in the external tank connected to shuttle Atlantis. Liquid hydrogen is 423 degrees below zero.
Engineers expect results from the cryogenic testing by the weekend. They are prepared to make other tests if the initial tests are inconclusive.
Faulty readings from the low-fuel sensors could shut down the shuttle engines prematurely, causing the shuttle to miss orbit. Or, if the sensors fail to shut down the engines at the proper time, the turbo pumps could run dry and disintegrate.
Failure of the connector is suspected of causing faulty readings from a low-fuel sensor that caused launch attempts to be scrubbed on Dec. 6 and 9.
A soldered connector will be installed in Atlantis' external tank on Thursday. NASA plans to launch Atlantis no sooner than Jan. 24, but more likely in early February.
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