KSC-2010-5856

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Overnight the temperature at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida dipped to 27 degrees F, turning water into icicles on the pad structure. The arctic airmass, which is forecasted to last until Wednesday, postponed a tanking test of space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank until no earlier than Dec. 17. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann