Drug Lab on Shuttle Repaired

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Technicians fixed a leak in a drug-processing machine today, just two hours before a deadline, and apparently preserved a seat for engineer Charles Walker on the space shuttle mission scheduled for liftoff Friday.

If the leak had not been plugged by 11:45 a.m., Walker would have been removed from the seven-member crew that includes Sen. Jake Garn. But James T. Rose, director of the drug-making project for McDonnell Douglas Corp., reported just before 10 a.m. that the leak, in a gasket in a thermo-electric unit, had been fixed. “I’m confident we have solved the problem,” he said.

Historic flight for senator. Page 10.