The launch of the shuttle Discovery has been delayed for at least Sunday due to a hydrogen leak

The leak was discovered while filling the external fuel tank and checking the system before the launch planned for last night

16: 50 Update

NASA Shuttle Program Manager Mike Leinbach said Wednesday that workers will retest Thursday afternoon the hydrogen tubes that started leaking during the countdown to the launch scheduled for that evening. The leak caused the postponement of mission STS-119 to the International Space Station. After the tests it will be possible to know whether it will be possible to carry out the launch on Sunday.
According to Leinbach, the gas that leaked passed through a valve inside the external fuel tank to a special facility in the launch pad where it burned without causing any damage. According to him, there was no risk to the shuttle during refueling, but the leak allowed too much hydrogen to escape from the pipes.

Update time 00:15

Those who planned tonight to stay up until XNUMX:XNUMX AM (or wake up at that time) to watch TV (Fox, CNN for those who still have) the launch of the space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station can give up their plans and go to sleep.

The space shuttle Discovery, on mission STS-119, will lift off tomorrow at the earliest, on the night between Thursday and Friday at 02:54 a.m. (20:54 p.m. Wednesday EST) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch managers reported discovering a leak in the liquid hydrogen piping connecting the shuttle and the external fuel tank. The launch team is now busy emptying all the external fuel for the purpose of checking the leak and repairing the required components.

As mentioned, this is a launch which was postponed for over two months Due to fear of a malfunction in the valves of the fuel system, which regulate the liquid hydrogen in the pipes leading from the external fuel tank to the shuttle's engines, the engineers also showed sensitivity to any abnormal phenomenon in this system.