Atlantis heads back to the pad

Atlantis is going back to the launch pad.

NASA reversed course midway through Atlantis' roll back because of the changing forecasts for Ernesto. Managers have been reassessing the weather situation this afternoon and realizing that the storm's intensity was not going to be as bad as once thought. The crawler stopped on the crawlerway moments ago and is now in reverse. The shuttle Atlantis should be back on the launch pad within 5 hours.

A launch next week is now possible. The team has lost a full day of work today. But getting back to the pad by the end of the day puts NASA back in a position to fly this month rather than waiting weeks or even months to resume construction of the space station.