NASA reverses shuttle rollback
Posted: Tue, Aug 29, 2006, 8:07 PM ET (0007 GMT)
In an unprecedented move, shuttle managers halted the rollback of the shuttle Atlantis to the Vehicle Assembly Building and decided to return the shuttle to its launch pad, preserving a chance to launch the shuttle next week. Atlantis was about halfway between the pad and the VAB Tuesday afternoon when NASA officials, reviewing revised forecasts for Tropical Storm Ernesto, decided that it was safe to return the shuttle to the pad and have it ride out the storm there. By doing so, it should be possible to launch the shuttle as early as September 6, one day before the current launch window closes; had the shuttle returned to the VAB it was unlikely the orbiter could return and be prepared for launch before the window closed, potentially delaying the launch to late October.
In an unprecedented move, shuttle managers halted the rollback of the shuttle Atlantis to the Vehicle Assembly Building and decided to return the shuttle to its launch pad, preserving a chance to launch the shuttle next week. Atlantis was about halfway between the pad and the VAB Tuesday afternoon when NASA officials, reviewing revised forecasts for Tropical Storm Ernesto, decided that it was safe to return the shuttle to the pad and have it ride out the storm there. By doing so, it should be possible to launch the shuttle as early as September 6, one day before the current launch window closes; had the shuttle returned to the VAB it was unlikely the orbiter could return and be prepared for launch before the window closed, potentially delaying the launch to late October.
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