Endeavour suffers another fuel leak

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 17 (UPI) -- Another fuel leak forced the U.S. space agency to again postpone the launch of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said the leak discovered at 1:55 a.m. EDT Wednesday was associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle's external fuel tank and was similar to the leak that postponed Endeavour's originally scheduled launch Saturday.

"We're going to step back and figure out what the problem is and go fix it," Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager LeRoy Cain said. "Once we get it fixed and we're confident that we have a solution that's going to work and allow us to go fly safely, then we'll proceed forward."

Endeavour's next launch opportunity is July 11 at 7:39 p.m. EDT.

The 16-day mission to the International Space Station will feature five spacewalks and will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory, NASA said. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.