Shuttle rollout still slated for Thursday

NASA still aims to move shuttle Endeavour out to launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday while the agency continues efforts to recover from damage done by Hurricane Ike at Johnson Space Center and surrounding communities.

Mounted atop a mobile launcher platform, the shuttle is scheduled to depart the 52-story KSC Vehicle Assembly Building at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and then arrive at the pad about six to eight hours later.

Endeavour will be on standby when Atlantis blasts off from nearby pad 39A on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It would be launched on a rescue mission if Atlantis sustained damage that would endanger the vehicle and its seven-member crew during atmospheric reentry.

Also on Thursday: the cargo for the Hubble mission is slated to depart the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility in the KSC Industrial Area and arrive at launch pad 39A early Friday for installation in Atlantis.

"We're going to keep pressing ahead toward the Oct. 10 target date" for Atlantis, KSC spokesman Allard Beutel said.

Endeavour roll-out preparations began in the assembly building today and a prelaunch propellant load on Atlantis was completed over the weekend.

Ike made landfall in coastal Texas as a powerful Category 2 storm early Saturday and then swept by JSC, which is the home of NASA's Mission Control Center as well as its astronaut corps. Program offices for the shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation projects all are located at NASA's Texas field center.

The roof of Mission Control was damaged by the storm and other buildings sustained minor damage from high winds and heavy rains. JSC will remain closed this week as a relatively small recovery team works to restore power and clear debris around the center. Some communities surrounding JSC suffered serious damage and many among the center's 15,000 contractor and civil service workers still have not been able to return to homes they evacuated.

The closure likely will force NASA to push back target dates for the Atlantis and Endeavour launches, which now are slated for liftoffs on Oct. 10 and Nov. 12, respectively. Astronaut and flight controller training for the missions will be stalled until JSC reopens for normal business next week, and the exact impact to the target dates likely will remain unclear until then.

The Flight Readiness Review for the Atlantis mission and a practice countdown remain on the official schedule for next week. Those plans, however, could be changed as a result of the storm.

NOTE ON IMAGES: Click to enlarge and save the awesome shots of the orbiter Endeavour being mated last week with an external tank outfitted with twin solid rocket boosters. Then click the enlarged image for an even bigger view. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett