Discovery's flight was preparing for takeoff on a mission to meet up with the space station. It had to be postponed till Thursday. A hydrogen gas leak was found that would of been catastrophic at liftoff.
The leak was discovered as it was being fueled for the Wednesday liftoff. Pressure-relief valve in the tank apparently did not work properly during fueling. The seven astronauts were not on board the spaceship at the time of the fuel leak discovery.
Apparently the leak was in the vicinity of the fuel tank and hydrogen gas-venting line. You can't have hydrogen leaking in the launch area, it is very explosive.
Jeanette Fitzgerald
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