Shuttle launch moved to January

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2007 | by Traci Watson

A technical problem that NASA engineers were sure they had solved has returned to delay a space shuttle mission for the sixth time in less than three years, just as the shuttle needs to finish its work before retiring in the fall of 2010.

A fuel-sensor failure Sunday morning forced NASA to scrub the liftoff of shuttle Atlantis, planned for 3:21 p.m. ET. The earliest Atlantis could launch is Jan. 2.

The failure of two fuel sensors prompted the cancellation of Atlantis' first launch attempt Thursday. Misbehavior by the same sensors led to launch delays ranging from a day to two months in 2005 and 2006, slowing construction of the International Space Station.

The shuttle is the world's only spacecraft roomy and powerful enough to take the heavy pieces...