Tropical Storm Hanna Threatens Space Coast

Another week... another threat to NASA's Kennedy Space Center from inclement weather. KSC managers say they will closely follow Tropical Storm Hanna to determine when would be the best time this week to move space shuttle Atlantis to its launch pad.

Currently, the earliest Atlantis will be rolled out from Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A is Thursday, September 4 at 12:01 am EDT. As ANN reported, rollout had been scheduled for Tuesday morning, three days later than its original August 30 scheduled rollout date. That delay was due to a minor technical problem with a fuel connector.

Managers opted Monday to delayed the rollout, to allow time to evaluate Hanna's possible affects on the center.

If the storm stays on its current track, managers will wait until it passes off the coast of Kennedy and then move Atlantis to the pad, most likely Saturday morning. Current forecasts show Hanna will make a glancing blow off Florida's eastern seaboard later this week, possibly as a Category Two hurricane.

Atlantis is targeted to lift off October 8 on an 11-day mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Managers will evaluate any affects from Hanna on supporting the target date.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle