Aresearch.98 net.columbia utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!research!sjb Sun Oct 18 16:31:00 1981 fueling Fueling of propellants into the shuttle is proceeding on schedule today. Officials estimate that when the process is completed, it will have taken 146 hours and 15 tons of fuel to be used to drive 46 engines aboard the orbiter. After that is done, the next step is to load the fuel cells that provide electricity for the ship.