Shuttle managers now plan to start rolling Atlantis to launch pad 39A at 10 a.m. Thursday, expecting strong winds from Tropical Storm Hanna to remain safely offshore.The decision is pending a review of forecasts at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. If the storm curves to the west, the 3.5-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building could be postponed again.
If weather permits, Atlantis should reach the launch pad between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, officials said this afternoon.
Earlier today, officials expected the storm's track to push the rollout back to Saturday, which would have left only one contingency day in the planned Oct. 8 launch schedule.
But Hanna's forecast cone has moved east of Kennedy Space Center and Florida's East Coast, according to a 2 p.m. report from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
IMAGE NOTE: Space shuttle Atlantis approaches the floor of the mobile launcher platform in high bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Atlantis has been mated to its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, and could be rolled out to launch pad 39A at 10 a.m. Thursday. Click on the picture to enlarge it. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis.
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