sjb (12/24/82)
Officials have delayed announcing a firm launch date for STS-6 until the first week in January in order to more carefully examine a possible fault detected by the test firing of the Challenger's three main engines last Saturday. Preliminary data indicates a higher than expected concentration of hydrogen in the rear compartment of the shuttle following the test. Officials, who had planned to announce a date yesterday, will wait until the cause is found and a remedy determined to announce the date. 27 January had been the target date since the test firing.