Atlantis Space Shuttle Has Problems

NASA called off Thursday's launch of space shuttle Atlantis after two fuel gauges in its big external tank failed to work properly, a recurring problem since the Columbia disaster. Shuttle managers said the next launch attempt would be no earlier than Saturday. Preliminary indications were that the problem might be with an open circuit rather than the gauges themselves, perhaps a spliced line or bad connector, which would be easier to fix. Mission managers decided to forgo a launch attempt today to give engineers more time to resolve the trouble. Because of poor sun angles and computer concerns NASA would have to wait until the beginning of January to launch Atlantis and the European Space Agency's space station lab, Columbus, if the mission isn't underway by next Thursday or Friday.