CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Shuttle Endeavour remains parked in its processing hangar on Wednesday, while engineers review lab analysis and inspection reports stemming from an electrical short circuit that took out two shuttle main engine controller s during the launch of shuttle Columbia last month.

The short, which was traced to a singed wire in wiring that connects the engine computers to equipment in the shuttle's flight deck, initially was believed to be the result of general wear-and-tear on NASA's oldest orbiter.

However, lab results presented at a meeting late Tuesday are pointing to another conclusion: the wire was accidentally stepped on or somehow bent so that it brushed against the head of a screw and was damaged.

"They have confirmed that it was probably as simple as someone stepping on the wire and the wire making contact with the screw," said Kennedy Space Center spokesman Joel Wells.

Inspections of wiring in Columbia, as well as sistership Atlantis, revealed several areas where bundles of wires had become slack and were near screws, said Wells.

NASA had ordered the inspections in an attempt to determine if Columbia's short-circuit was a one-time occurrence or if there was a generic problem with the shuttle wiring.

Endeavour itself was not inspected because its cargo bay is filled with equipment for a radar-mapping mission targeted for launch on Sept. 16.

The delays moving Endeavour are not expected to delay the shuttle's launch, said Wells.

The shuttle had been scheduled to be moved out of its processing hangar on Tuesday and hoisted vertically in the Vehicle Assembly Building to be mounted onto an external fuel tank and a pair of solid rocket boosters.

NASA managers plan to reconvene later Wednesday to reassess reports on the short-circuit. Endeavour could be ready to be moved to the assembly building on Thursday.