Washington - US space agency NASA on Wednesday postponed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour for the second time in four days, after technicians detected a hydrogen gas leak during fuelling just hours before scheduled lift-off. The shuttle's launch had been set for 5:40 am (0940 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida for a 16-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was to carry the final pieces to the Japanese Kibo module of the ISS.
A new launch date was set for July 11, NASA said.
The aborted launch on Wednesday followed NASA's postponement on Saturday of the original Endeavour lift-off after it discovered that hydrogen was leaking from a vent line and had to empty the fuel tank containing liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The problem was similar to one in March that delayed the launch of the Discovery shuttle.
"We are going to step back and figure out what the problem is and go fix it," said Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager LeRoy Cain, according to NASA's website. "Once we get it fixed and we are confident that we have a solution that's going to work and allow us to go fly safely, then we'll proceed forward."
The seven-member crew were to install a porch for experiments outside the space station, bring spare equipment and conduct other repairs during five planned spacewalks.
