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NASA looks for oxygen leak; shuttle liftoff still on schedule
February 9, 1997
Web posted at: 10:00 p.m. ESTCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Engineers worked Sunday to trace a potential oxygen leak detected in the space shuttle Discovery's payload bay, but the problem is not expected to be a "show stopper," NASA said.
The countdown remained on track for a liftoff Tuesday at 3:55 a.m. on a mission to upgrade and maintain the Hubble Space Telescope, launch director Robert Sieck said.
Tests were to be done Sunday night and Monday to pinpoint any leak or to decide if the detection devices were giving a false reading, he said.
"It's a very low-level reading," Sieck said. If there is a leak in an oxygen line, he said, it would be only the size of a pinhole. It is not a safety concern, he said.
"The ultimate concern, if any, is the loss of large quantities of oxygen when you get in orbit, because you need it," he said.
"We don't think this is going to be a show stopper," Sieck said, adding NASA merely wanted "to review all of the 'what ifs.'"
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Related sites:
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- Johnson Space Center Shuttle Countdown STS-82
- Hubble Space Telescope Science
- Space Station Mir Info Page
- Tracking the mission
- Watch the crew - NASA TV
- Watch the crew - streaming video
- Meet the Crew
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