Discovery fuel leak appears to have stopped

A fuel leak in Discovery's orbital engine system appears to have stopped, but leak checks continue this morning, according to Kennedy Space Center officials.

Overnight, technicians checked the torque of six bolts on a flange where propellant lines meet in the rear section of Discovery, near the Orbital Maneuvering System pod, or OMS pod, on the right side of the orbiter's tail fin.

The bolts weren't loose, but in the course of the tests engineers and technicians determined there was no more leaking of toxic monomethyl hydrazine fuel.

A review board was meeting this morning to evaluate next steps.

If the leak continues, plans as of Monday called for replacement of two flange seals after draining four OMS pod fuel tanks and the crossfeed lines between them.

Discovery is targeted to launch at 4:40 p.m. Nov. 1, and managers on Monday had four spare days to resolve technical problems and still make that date.

NASA executives will meet Monday at KSC to set an official launch date.