Tentative launch date for Atlantis

Technicians soldered wire leads onto the pass-through connector, which will be installed Friday on the external tank attached to Atlantis.

NASA set a tentative launch date of Feb. 7 for Atlantis' journey to the International Space Station to deliver the European Columbus module.

Some two months after the original launch attempt, the delay allows time to correct faulty fuel level readings likely caused by an electrical connector that passes through the wall of the external tank. The delay also puts the shuttle's arrival at the space station behind a Russian Progress cargo module, scheduled to launch the same day.

NASA officials stressed the date is tentative.

"That date is now under evaluation," NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said. "There's not an official launch date yet."

Friday technicians will install a new connector to replace the one believed to have caused intermittent readings from a low-fuel sensor.

NASA plans to proceed with launch without fueling the shuttle to test the performance of the new pass-through connector.

"We're not scheduled to do a tanking test," NASA spokesman Candrea Thomas said. "That doesn't mean we can't do one later on."

At Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, engineers studying the faulty connector found tiny scratches in the glass part of the connector that holds pins to which leads are attached on either side. They are studying the scratches, said Thomas, to see whether the flaws played some part in the connector's failure.