Hurricane Hanna delays rollout

8 p.m. update of earlier post.

Fears of tropical storm or hurricane like conditions have forced NASA to delay rollout of the space shuttle Atlantis to the seaside launch pad by at least 24 hours, from Tuesday to Wednesday. And, if the current forecast holds, rollout appears highly unlikely for several days beyond that.

Hurricane Hanna, as of the 8 p.m. forecast from the National Hurricane Center, is on a track that could bring tropical storm winds -- at a minimum -- to the spaceport area sometime Thursday or Friday.

The earliest start for rollout is now scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

NASA aims to launch the shuttle and seven astronauts on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope on or about Oct. 10 or 11, depending on how quickly shuttle and payload processing go. Right now, the mission remains on track for an early October launch.

The space shuttle program has been carefully watching the development of Hanna in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is on a path that will bring it 100 miles off Cape Canaveral Thursday morning, before the forecast path takes a sharp turn to the north.

Cape Canaveral and much of east central Florida is within the "cone" forecast by the hurricane center.
Of course, it's possible the storm's path could shift north or south away from the area. Teams will continue to assess the weather situation daily and proceed with rollout once KSC is deemed clear of the threat of storm conditions.

Closely on Hanna's heels is Tropical Storm Ike, a system on track to strengthen into a hurricane. Some computer models for that storm indicate a path toward east Florida too. The bottom line: a week's worth of potential tropical storm weather could prove interesting for shuttle program managers and NASA forecasters as they try to get Atlantis on the pad.

Image note: The picture at top right shows Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf as of late Monday afternoon. The image is from the GOES East weather satellite (launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station earlier this decade). Click the picture for a much larger version. Below that is the 8 p.m. Monday track for Hurricane Hanna from the National Hurricane Center. Click on that map for a larger version.