Gusty winds have delayed for at least a day efforts to move a sensitive shuttle cargo back into storage at Kennedy Space Center. Workers tonight had planned to begin transferring Hubble Space Telescope science instruments and repair equipment from launch pad 39A into the giant canister used to transport payloads.
But the weather didn't cooperate, and the outlook for Tuesday is iffy.
The schedule was pushed back 24 hours, pending a weather assessment Tuesday.
Because the fifth and final Hubble shuttle servicing mission was postponed, its payload and shuttle Atlantis must be moved off pad 39A to make room for Endeavour, now the next shuttle in line to fly on Nov. 14.
Endeavour will take supplies to the International Space Station, equipping it to support a six-person crew.
NASA is expected to update reporters Tuesday afternoon on plans to fix a Hubble computer failure that forced the delay in the Atlantis mission, and has at least temporarily halted the telescope's ability to transmit science data.
Atlantis was scheduled to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building next Monday, and Endeavour was expected move from pad 39B to take Atlantis' place on 39A on Oct. 25.
IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge the image above, and again to make it even bigger. In the Payload Changeout Room on launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 26, a worker uses the payload ground handling mechanism to install the payload for the STS-125 mission into space shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay. STS-125 is the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The payload comprises four carriers holding various equipment for the mission. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
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