Atlantis May Try Again Tomorrow

NASA plans to launch the space shuttle Atlantis tomorrow, assuming engineers can figure out how to fix malfunctioning fuel sensors, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The glitches forced the space agency to postpone yesterday's original launch and another today. "We want to sleep on it," said a NASA official, "and think about what we may not be thinking about."

Two of four sensors in an emergency back-up system aren't working properly, and NASA, which is on a tight schedule with shuttle launches, is considering flying with just the two functional ones. That would likely draw criticism, because it's similar to shortcuts made before the disastrous launch of the doomed shuttle Columbia in 2003. (More Atlantis Space Shuttle stories.)