Discovery launch called off
2005-07-13 19:39
Cape Canaveral - Nasa officials scrubbed the much-awaited launch of the Discovery shuttle on Wednesday due to a malfunctioning sensor.
The crew started unstrapping out of the shuttle, where they had a spent the last hour getting in place, as soon as the "scrub" decision was made, Nasa television reported.
The problem was found in a piece of hardware called the "low level fuel cut off" which can slow down the engine after launch if it senses that fuel is dropping too low.
"We really don't want the engine to be running at high speed and then suddenly run out of fuel, which could lead to breakdown and uncontained failure of engine," an official told Nasa TV.
He described the sensor as a "back up for a back up" situation.
- SAPA