Shuttle Launch Delay Proves To Be... Kismet?

With the bulk of Tropical Storm Fay now spinning off the eastern coast of Florida, NASA's Kennedy Space Center reopened Thursday morning for "mission essential" personnel, though many employees will likely opt to wait out the storm's torrential rains.

As ANN reported, Kennedy has been closed since Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Fay, which is continuing to bring heavy rain and wind to the region.

Individual center supervisors defined which workers were considered "mission essential," including employees who needed to ensure center infrastructure is safe and working, and personnel who process spaceflight hardware, such as space shuttles and Hubble Space Telescope equipment.

A liberal leave policy for employees will be in effect Thursday. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will remain closed Thursday, but reopen on Friday.

Plans call for the center to open to all employees and return to full operation Friday. About 200 emergency personnel, known as a "ride-out crew," will remain on-site overnight into Thursday morning to provide real-time storm assessments.

Based on initial reports, there are no injuries, damage to flight hardware or flooding associated with Fay at the center. Only minor damage has been seen on a few facilities, including the Vehicle Assembly Building, which lost one exterior panel from its east side.

Speaking of the VAB... inside the mammoth building is the shuttle Atlantis, ready for its move to the launch pad for the upcoming STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. That flight was originally supposed to launch August 28, but delays in receiving the external fuel tank for the shuttle Endeavour -- should that orbiter be needed for an emergency "lifeboat" mission to rescue the Atlantis crew -- pushed off that date until early October.

Of course, had the original launch date been adhered to, Atlantis would have been on the pad when Fay moved in... requiring NASA to make a judgment call to either roll the orbiter back into the VAB... which, of course, would have also delayed the mission... or keep the orbiter on the pad to ride out the storm, risking damage to the spacecraft.

So, all in all... the tank delay probably worked out best for everyone concerned!

FMI: www.nasa.gov