Fixing shuttle flaw may take time

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2005 | by Traci Watson

CAPE CANAVERAL -- Baffled NASA officials said Thursday that they don't know when they'll be able to fix a persistent fuel-gauge problem that forced them to postpone the first space shuttle launch since January 2003.

Shuttle Discovery was less than three hours from its scheduled liftoff Wednesday when engineers discovered a malfunction in a gauge in the shuttle's fuel tank. The gauge is supposed to detect abnormally low levels of liquid hydrogen, which is burned by the shuttle's three main engines.

In the hours after the delay, shuttle officials had hoped that Discovery's flight could be rescheduled for as early as Saturday. But now even a launch Sunday appears "not really credible," deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said.

"We're in the early stages...