NASA has indefinitely put off its long-awaited return to space, saying Friday that engineers were no closer to knowing why a fuel gauge acted up right before a scheduled liftoff Wednesday. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    Beijing July 18 (Xinhuanet)-- NASA has indefinitely put off the launch of the shuttle Discovery, which was described as an old truck .

    Deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said that once the problem was identified and fixed, it would be another four days before the shuttle Discovery could launch.

    "Everybody is going to want to ask, 'What is that date going to be?' Well, I don't know," Hale said.

    Hale says its recent on-again, off-again electronics problem "reminds me of an old truck I own."

    Delays for safety improvements have repeatedly thwarted the shuttle's comeback from the Columbia catastrophe 2 1/2 years ago. But aging components could eventually add their own setbacks and risks to flying as the shuttles near retirement in just five years, according to authorities on space travel.

    "If I have any worries at all, it's a few years from now, down the road, when the hardware gets older," said Bob Sieck, a former shuttle launch director and NASA safety adviser. Enditem

    (Agencies)