Storms Delay Shuttle Missions to Hubble, Space Station

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis will blast off two days late next month due to delays from recent storms that have also waylaid a planned November shuttle mission, agency officials said Friday.

Atlantis is now set to launch no earlier than Oct. 10 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on the final mission to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope. The second shuttle mission is now pegged for a Nov. 12 launch, two days later than planned, toward the International Space Station.

The launch targets for both missions - NASA's last two of the year - were pushed back due to downtime associated with Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna, both of which hindered flight preparations for Atlantis and its Hubble instrument cargo at the seaside KSC spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"It was payload preparations," NASA spokesperson Candrea Thomas of KSC told SPACE.com. "When we had Fay, it put the payload folks back four days. They made up two, but it's just a matter of being able to get them some extra time so that we can launch."

Atlantis' payload for Hubble consists of new cameras, batteries, gyroscopes and other spare parts that the shuttle's seven-astronaut crew plans to install during a series of five back-to-back spacewalks set for the 11-day mission. The new equipment will extend the iconic 18-year-old orbital observatory's life through at least 2013, mission managers have said.

NASA closed KSC for several days in late August when Tropical Storm Fay drenched the spaceport with rain and battered it with high winds. The closure delayed Atlantis move to NASA's 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building, where engineers later attached the shuttle to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters.

Uncertainty over Tropical Storm Hanna's path this week prompted mission managers to hold off on hauling Atlantis to Launch Pad 39A until Thursday, when it became clear the storm would remain off shore and not imperil the shuttle.

Atlantis' cargo, Thomas said, is due to join Atlantis at its launch pad on Sept. 19.

But the delays for the Hubble-bound spaceflight also pushed back the November flight to the space station because both missions must use the same Pad 39A launching site. Endeavour's November shuttle mission, STS-126, is aimed at delivering fresh supplies and new equipment that will help prepare the space station for larger, six-person crews.

Once Atlantis returns home from its Hubble mission, its sister ship Endeavour will be hauled off a second shuttle launch pad and moved to Pad 39A, Thomas said. NASA plans to ready Endeavour on the nearby Pad 39B at the spaceport in order to serve as a rescue ship for the Atlantis astronauts should their spacecraft suffer critical damage.

Unlike recent shuttle flights to the International Space Station, Atlantis astronauts will not be able to take refuge aboard the orbiting laboratory because it circles the Earth in a lower orbit and different inclination than the Hubble telescope.

Thomas said that while the fringe effects of Hanna were dumping some rain on Atlantis and the spaceport today, workers could head out to the launch pad later this afternoon to resume flight preparations if the weather clears. As of Friday morning, Hanna was centered about 110 miles (180 km) off the coast of Daytona Beach, Fla., and moving northwest at 20 mph (32 kph) with maximum sustained winds reaching speeds of about 65 mph (100 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.

Meanwhile, NASA is keeping close tabs on Hurricane Ike, a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds blowing up to 120 mph (195 kph) as it moves west across the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm's center was located about 425 miles (685 km) north of the Leeward Islands.

"We are watching that closely to see which way it goes and what we need to do," Thomas said.

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