Astronomy Down Under

STS-115 delayed

29 Aug at 17:12 by Wilson

The untimely arrival of tropical storm Ernesto forced NASA to delay the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis. There is no new date set for the launch, as the shuttle is actually being rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building to ensure it is safe from the weather.

The current launch window lasts until 13 September, but NASA wants to send the shuttle up before the 7th because a Russian supply rocket is also scheduled to go up to the ISS. Since the rollback causes a very long delay (at least eight days after it is moved back to the launch pad), this may not be possible, and the next lauch window is only in October (but, then again, the Russian Soyuz might be delayed to make way for the shuttle).