Discovery's engine No. 3 had already helped power three shuttle missions, and its age was showing. About 6 sec. before blastoff, a heated mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was supposed to be pumped forcefully through the engine's main fuel line into a central combustion chamber, where it would ignite. But the 10 ΒΌ in. long, 74-lb. fuel valve faltered a fraction of a second in opening, prompting the central computer system to abort the entire mission. Of the three main engines, only No. 2 had been fully ignited. During its 1.7 sec....
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