NASA Conducts Shuttle Fueling Test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA conducted a second fueling test Friday on space shuttle Discovery to try to figure out why sensors and valves did not work properly during a previous run-through.

The test was in preparation for the launch of Discovery in July on the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster nearly 2 1/ 2 years ago.

Discovery’s external tank was filled with 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, and a countdown was simulated.

Everything went without a hitch this time, but NASA engineers evaluating the preliminary data were still unsure why the liquid hydrogen sensors gave intermittent readings and why a pressurization relief valve opened and closed more times than normal during last month’s test.