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NASA Set to Launch Space Shuttle Atlantis
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=13DABB0:A6F02AD83191E160D6B1EFB5C662D3D39574F7DCC14957C0 Last-minute delay
remains possible as crews work to repair fuel sensor





Shuttle Atlantis one hour before scheduled launch, Friday The crew of
the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis is inside the shuttle preparing for
takeoff, although a last-minute delay remains possible.

NASA says it has detected a problem with one of the shuttle's fuel
sensors. Officials say they are working to fix the gauge so Atlantis
can be launched as scheduled at 11:41 a.m. local time from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, on the U.S. Atlantic coast, on a mission to the
International Space Station.

NASA officials could launch the shuttle with only three of its four
sensors operating, or postpone the launch until Saturday. It has
already been delayed several times for technical and weather-related
reasons.

Failure to launch the shuttle this week could delay the mission until
October, to avoid a Russian spacecraft that plans to visit the space
station later this month.

Astronauts on the shuttle mission plan to attach a 17-ton addition to
the station. It will include a new set of giant solar energy panels
that will reach 80 meters in length when fully unfurled.

Construction on the International Space Station stopped after the
shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003 forced a long moratorium on
shuttle flights.


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