Small Cracks on Discovery’s Fuel Tank

(NewsCore) - Inspections of the space shuttle Discovery’s fuel tank revealed several small cracks on a number of support beams, NASA confirmed Thursday.

It was not immediately clear if the latest findings would further delay the launch of the shuttle, which was pushed back from its scheduled Nov. 1 lift-off so repairs could be completed on the fuel tank.

NASA engineers began repair work on the shuttle in October when a hydrogen fuel leak was discovered as the shuttle sat on the launching pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Discovery's 11-day mission with its all-American crew of six will deliver a pressurized logistics module called Leonardo, which will be permanently attached to the International Space Station to provide more storage space.

The mission will be Discovery’s last and the second-to-last shuttle launch, as the program is being phased out by the Obama administration.