[sarex] NASA Decides to Move Shuttle Atlantis Off Launch Pad

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

> Aug. 29, 2006
>
> Katherine Trinidad
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-3749
>
> Bruce Buckingham 
> Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
> 321-867-2468 
>
> RELEASE: 06-303
>
> NASA DECIDES TO MOVE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS OFF LAUNCH PAD
>
> NASA has decided to roll the Space Shuttle Atlantis off its launch pad 
> and back inside the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building at 
> the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The roll back is targeted to start at 
> approximately 10:05 a.m. EDT Tuesday. 
>
> The decision was made due to Tropical Storm Ernesto's track. Ernesto 
> is expected to bring high winds as it passes Kennedy. 
>
> A new launch date is not yet scheduled for Atlantis' flight, STS-115, 
> to the International Space Station. NASA and the Russian Federal 
> Space Agency continue to discuss the timing of Atlantis' mission and 
> the Soyuz spacecraft, which will send the next crew to the station in 
> September. Factors to be considered are the lighting constraints for 
> the shuttle launch and Soyuz landing and the timing for docking and 
> undocking the spacecraft with the station. NASA is also investigating 
> additional launch windows later in the fall.
>
> The STS-115 crew will return to NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. 
> Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson, and mission specialists 
> Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Canadian 
> astronaut Steve MacLean will continue training as they await a new 
> target launch date.
>
> During STS-115, Atlantis' astronauts will deliver and install the 
> 17.5-ton, bus-sized P3/P4 integrated truss segment on the station. 
> The girder-like truss includes a set of giant solar arrays, batteries 
> and associated electronics. The P3/P4 truss segment will provide 
> one-fourth of the total power-generation capability for the completed 
> station.
>
> For information about the STS-115 crew and mission, visit: 
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle 
>
> 	
> -end-
>
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