NASA is testing a problem-plagued fuel sensor system as countdown to the planned 2:45 p.m. launch of shuttle Atlantis continues at Kennedy Space Center.
Four low-level fuel sensors in the shuttle's external tank serve as a key back up system for shutting down the shuttle's main engines in flight, and at least three of them must be working properly before NASA can clear a mission for liftoff.
The sensor system failed back in December, triggering two launch scrubs and a two-month delay in a long-awaited mission to deliver the European Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.
NASA since has repaired suspect connectors that route computer commands to the sensors, and the ongoing fuel-loading operation is essentially the first test of the reworked system.
A state-of-health report is expected around the top of the hour.
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