NASA confident repairs to leaky vent line will allow space shuttle launch Wednesday

NASA confident repairs will allow shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is confident repairs to a leaky vent line will allow space shuttle Endeavour to blast off Wednesday.

But the space agency won’t know for sure until it begins fueling the space shuttle Tuesday night.

The potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak prevented Endeavour from taking off Saturday on its space station construction mission.

Wednesday’s launch time is 5:40 a.m., well before dawn. Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent.

NASA has just one more chance to launch Endeavour before standing down for an unmanned moon shot. Another delay would bump the shuttle flight into July because of unfavorable sun angles, unless managers agree to shorten the 16-day mission. That’s something they would rather avoid.