From NASA

The Kennedy Space Center in Florida escaped any damage to facilities or flight hardware from tropical storm Ernesto that passed through the area on Wednesday. As a result, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for a possible launch from pad 39B as soon as Sept. 6. If that date is selected, the liftoff time would be 12:29 p.m. EDT.

Atlantis was surrounded and protected by the launch pad’s rotating service structure as Ernesto passed through the area, with peak winds of only 44 mph recorded at the pad. The Kennedy Space Center re-opened for normal operations Thursday morning. On Tuesday, mission managers halted a rollback of the space shuttle to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building as the projected path of the tropical storm skirted further west than first expected, allowing a sufficient decrease in winds to permit the shuttle to ride out the storm at the pad.

Atlantis will require at least seven days of launch preparations. If launch cannot occur on Sept. 6, Sept. 7 and 8 are also possible dates that Atlantis could launch on mission STS-115 to the International Space Station. NASA is also investigating the possibility of additional launch windows later in the fall that would still allow for extensive daylight photography of the external tank during ascent.

For more on the upcoming STS-115 mission, visit: www.nasa.gov/shuttle on the Internet.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

A small crew of NASA employees were set to begin initial checks of Space Shuttle Atlantis at 2 a.m. this morning after Tropical Depression Ernesto blew past Kennedy Space Center around midnight.

KSC is scheduled to re-open today and the NASA has gained one extra day in the launch schedule after negotiations with the Russian Space Agency. Both plan September missions to the International Space Station and both have concerns about flying at night.

NASA doesn’t want to launch Atlantis in the dark and the Russians don’t want their Soyuz capsule and crew to land in the dark. That has placed a strain on launch dates since Atlantis must leave the ISS prior to the Soyuz’s arrival.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

As Shuttle Atlantis sits alone on Launch Pad 39B — and with Kennedy Space Center closed because of Tropical Depression Ernesto — NASA is targeting the next launch attempt for either September 6, 7 or 8.

The last of those dates is a day past the self-imposed close of the current launch window because of an agreement with the Russian Space Agency. The actual window closes on the 13th, but that would cause a timing problem with a Soyuz launch that is to bring the next crew to the International Space Station.

Those dates all rely on the shuttle and its components weathering the storm in good shape.

Atlantis was more than 4 1/2 hours into its return trip to shelter in KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building yesterday when NASA managers halted the trek and returned the shuttle to the launch pad as weather projections indicated that winds wouldn’t maintain speeds that threaten the orbiter’s safety.

Atlantis and it six-astronaut crew are scheduled for an 11-day mission to re-start construction of the International Space Station. This particular mission, designated STS-115, has been delayed for 4 years — in large part because of the loss of Columbia on February 1, 2003.

This is the first operational shuttle flight since that accident, which claimed the lives of all seven Columbia astronauts.

Atlantis is heading back to Launch Pad 39B.

The orbiter was about half more than 4 1/2 hours into its trip back to Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building, when Launch Director Mike Leinbach reversed direction.

NASA managers have decided to roll the shuttle Atlantis back to the launch pad. It should arrive at around 8 p.m. EDT tonight. A new launch date is not yet scheduled.

The latest forecasts show Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to weaken enough to allow the shuttle to ride out the storm at the pad.

The move also revives hopes of getting Atlantis to orbit within the current launch window, which has a soft close on September 7 and physically closes on September 13.

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

NASA is just beginning to move the shuttle off the launch pad in order to shelter it from Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm’s current path would take it up Florida’s west coast and past the Kennedy Space Center.

While the decision protects Atlantis and the rest of the orbiter’s essential components, it also jeopardizes the current launch window, which NASA has agreed to close on September 7 because the Russian Space Agency will launch a Soyuz rocket the International Space Station.

The decision was made due to Tropical Storm Ernesto’s track. Ernesto is expected to bring high winds as it passes Kennedy.

Atlantis would require eight days of launch preparations once it was returned to Launch Pad 39B.

Atlantis’ physical luanch window closes on September 13 and NASA is currently working on a new agreement with the RSA. If no new accord is reached, the current launch window will close before NASA could begin Atlantis’ mission.

But, delays are nothing new for this crew.

This particular mission has been delayed for 4 years.
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By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

Atlantis won’t launch on Tuesday and NASA officials are making preliminary arrangements to move the shuttle off the launch pad and shelter it from oncoming Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Space agency managers had been working at cross purposes, both planning for a launch tomorrow and at the same time preparing to move Atlantis back to the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to protect it from Ernesto, which is possibly headed for Florida and is expected to regain hurricane strength.

NASA, however, is trying to buy some time to further watch the storm’s path before committing to moving the shuttle. The four-mile trip from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building takes approximately six hours.

Mission managers plan to make a decision by midday tomorrow.

Considering a return trip would be necessary, NASA would figure to lose a couple of days in its launch window in transportation alone, and, with the need to restart the countdown, time in the VAB for shelter, and the lost day and a half waiting to make the decision, NASA would likely would lose about a week with a rollback.

The launch window opened on Sunday and extends through September 7 because of an agreement with the Russian Space Agency over a Soyuz launch to the International Space Station. NASA is exploring options to alter the agreement, buying up another 6 days in the launch window, up to September 13, the natural close of the launch window.
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By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

Atlantis’ next launch attempt will not come until Tuesday, at the earliest. While NASA has verified that no damage was done when a lightning bolt struck pad 39B on Friday, the agency’s managers are trying to figure out just how to proceed as Tropical Storm Ernesto now appears to be heading for Florida rather than the gulf area.

NASA could decide tomorrow to move ahead with a launch attempt on Tuesday, the third day of a launch window that extends until September 7. Liftoff would take place at at 3:41 p.m. EDT.

Or, they could opt to move Atlantis back to Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to help shelter it from the potentially oncoming storm. It would be just the 17th time in the 115-flight history of the 25-year-old shuttle program that the space transportation system was rolled back off the launch pad.

It would also cause a much longer delay in the efforts to get Atlantis to orbit and restart construction of the International Space Station, work that has been on hold for the last 4 years, due in large part to the loss of Columbia.

Of those return trips, only five were related to weather: Columbia in October, 1995 because of Tropical Storm Klaus; Endeavour in August, 1995 because of Hurricane Erin; Atlantis in July, 1996 because of Hurricane Bertha; Atlantis in September, 1996 because of Hurricane Fran; and Discovery in 1999 because hail damaged foam insulation on the external tank.
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From NASA

The Space Shuttle Mission Management Team decided Saturday afternoon to postpone the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for at least 24 hours to allow more time for teams to assess ground and flight systems following a strong lighting strike to the lighting protection system at the launch pad on Friday afternoon.

“We’re going to let the teams go off and work the plans,” said LeRoy Cain, launch integration manager and chairman of the management team. Cain said the Mission Management Team would review data and decide about Monday when they reconvene at 10 a.m. EDT on Sunday.

If it is determined that all systems are go for a Monday launch, the weather presents only a 20 percent chance of “no go” according to U.S. Air Force First Lt. Kaleb Nordgren of the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The liftoff time for Monday would be 4:04 p.m. EDT

By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

NASA reports that both Shuttle Atlantis and the entire launch team are ready for tomorrow’s planned launch, scheduled for 4:30 p.m., EDT.

Just as the case was with the two other post-Columbia missions, weather will be a concern throughout the countdown.

The space agency now says that there is only a 40% chance that weather will be good enough to allow for a liftoff, the 27th for Atlantis and the 116th of the 25-year-old shuttle program.

Tomorrow represents the first day of Atlantis’ launch window on an ambitious mission to resume construction of the International Space Station — the first such work in 4 years. STS-115 will feature three space walks and add 17.5 tons of mass to the International Space Station.
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By Marc S. Posner
SOAR Magazine

NASA is preparing for a Sunday evening launch of Shuttle Atlantis with the countdown now underway and the crew on hand at the Kennedy Space Center.

If all progresses well, Atlantis will begin it’s 27th mission at 4:30 p.m., EDT, the first day of its launch window, and officially mark the return to operational service of the shuttle fleet following the 2003 destruction of Columbia. Like Discovery on the only two missions since the destruction of Columbia on February 1, 2003, Atlantis will head to the International Space Station — the 19th shuttle flight to do so.

Unlike those last two trips, however, STS-115’s 11-day mission will not be classified as a test flight. Discovery’s primary purpose was to prove the shuttles’ worthiness following repairs to the orbiter system. Discovery’s crews brought supplies and made repairs to the ISS on missions in last month and last summer.

Atlantis, though, is embarking on a mission designed solely to start the process of completing the station. Many of the parts still to be installed on the ISS were designed specifically to be brought into orbit by the shuttles, which now number just three: Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.

Astronauts will use three spacewalks on their construction mission.
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