21 Feb : NASA has postponed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery for a fourth time, but without setting a new target date to send the orbiter to the International Space Station (ISS).
The decision was announced late on Friday after a 13-hour meeting of a team in charge of preparation for the launch, which said it wanted to conduct further tests on three flow control valves.
The launch was initially scheduled for 12th February. Then it was delayed until 19th February and then again until around 27th February."At this point I want to make sure we get a measured approach to fly and we are ready to move in the right configuration," Bill Gersteinmaier, an assistant administrator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told reporters.
"We will take a look at it and we will know for sure on Wednesday," he added.The delays were announced as a precaution to test three flow control valves that channel gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle’s three main engines.
The shuttle’s valves have come under close scrutiny since a valve aboard space shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged after its 16-day mission to the orbiting ISS in November.