Space: Tune In Next Leak

Tune In Next Leak

Less than an hour after engineers began pumping 385,000 gal. of highly explosive liquid hydrogen into the fuel tank of the space shuttle Columbia, the countdown was halted and the flight scrubbed -- for the third time in just over three months. "We do not consider that the vehicle is safe to fly," declared shuttle director Robert Crippen, who earlier this summer grounded the entire fleet when leaks turned up in the shuttle Atlantis as well. NASA has not been able to get a shuttle off the ground since April, when it launched the now crippled Hubble telescope. Though shuttle engineers...

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