It is hoped that the problem can be resolved in time for a Thursday launch.

NASA scrubbed plans to launch the shuttle Atlantis today on a long-delayed assembly mission to the international space station when it discovered problems with an onboard fuel cell.

The space agency made tentative plans to try again Thursday with a lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center at 11:03 a.m. CDT.

However, shuttle managers intended to spend several hours today trying to diagnose the cause of a voltage spike in one of three fuel cells that generate electricity aboard the shuttle once it lifts off, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.

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The fuel cell problem was discovered just after midnight, before the launch control team began loading the shuttle's external fuel tank with liquid oxgen and hyrdrogen propellants.

If the problem cannot be resolved in time for a Friday launch, it will have to be delayed into next month to avoud conflicting with a Russian launch to the ISS.

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