NASA Decides to Move Shuttle Atlantis Off Launch Pad

NASA has decided to roll the Space Shuttle Atlantis off its launch pad and back inside the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The roll back of Atlantis is targeted to start at approximately 10:05 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

The decision was made due to Tropical Storm Ernesto’s track. Ernesto is expected to bring high winds as it passes Kennedy.

A new launch date is not yet scheduled for Atlantis’ flight, STS-115, to the International Space Station. NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency continue to discuss the timing of Atlantis’ mission and the Soyuz spacecraft, which will send the next crew to the Station in September. Factors to be considered are the lighting constraints for the shuttle launch and Soyuz landing and the timing for docking and undocking the spacecraft with the station. NASA is also investigating additional launch windows later in the fall.

The STS-115 crew will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson, and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean will continue training as they await a new target launch date.

During STS-115, Atlantis’ astronauts will deliver and install the 17.5- ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries and associated electronics. The P3/P4 truss segment will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed station.

For information about the STS-115 crew and mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle