Technicians are finishing up soldering pass-through connectors today, after which they will be waterproofed and readied for installation Thursday on Atlantis' external tank at Pad39A, NASA spokesman George Diller said.
In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank for the next shuttle mission, STS-123, is being prepared for the installation of connectors with soldered pins, said Diller.
Meanwhile, cryogenic testing of the failed connector was scheduled to begin Tuesday at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.
"The testing done so far is X-ray and visual," Steve Roy, Marshall Space Flight Center spokesman, said.
The connector that failed will be cooled with liquid hydrogen and retested.
The center hopes to have some test results by Thursday to help NASA managers set a new launch date, said Roy. After launch attempts were scrubbed on Dec. 6 and 9, NASA managers have delayed the latest launch date to no earlier than Jan. 24.
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
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