NASA repairing leak on space shuttle fuel tank

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is repairing a leaky hydrogen gas line on Endeavour's fuel tank in hopes of launching the shuttle on its space station construction mission Wednesday, four days after the first try was called off.

But another NASA mission, involving a pair of science spacecraft bound for the moon, is scheduled to blast off Wednesday. Top space agency officials will decide Monday whether to bump the moon mission to make way for Endeavour.

Mission management team chairman LeRoy Cain said it's likely Endeavour will go first — if the repair effort goes well, no other shuttle problems crop up and the weather cooperates.

"A lot of things have to go our way," Cain said Sunday.

Hydrogen gas began leaking from a vent line hookup on Endeavour's external tank during fueling early Saturday, and the countdown was halted just hours before the scheduled morning liftoff.