spacetoday.net: Shuttle launch pushed back to Monday

Posted: Wed, Oct 2, 2002, 10:19 AM ET (1419 GMT)
STS-112 patch (NASA)

NASA announced Wednesday morning that the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis will be delayed until Monday because of hurricane precautions being taken at the Johnson Space Center. JSC personnel worked overnight to power down key systems used to handle the shuttle and ISS as a precaution should Hurricane Lili strike near Houston. Mission control for ISS was transferred early Wednesday morning from Houston to Moscow, and will remain there until the Houston systems are restored. Since it takes several days to restore the mission control systems after such a shutdown, even if work begins on Thursday — the earliest day possible — the shuttle could not launch until Monday. The brunt of the hurricane is expected to miss the Houston area, striking to the east along the Louisiana coast.