Powerful Hurricane Continues Stalking Florida Peninsula

ANN REAL TIME UPDATE: 1130 EDT -- NASA officials, after a meeting at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, declared the shuttle "safe" from the effects of Hurricane Dennis and vowed to go on with plans for a July 13th launch.

After exhaustive consultations with meteorologists, launch officials decided the hurricane will track far enough west of the launch complex so that the shuttle can safely remain on the launch pad.

One of the busiest people in Florida these days has to be the guy who drives the huge tractor that carries the space shuttle to and from the launch pad.

Since April, the shuttle Discovery has carefully carried from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to launch pad 39B, then back, then to the pad again. Now, space center officials are getting ready to haul it back to the VAB yet again.

This time, the reason is Hurricane Dennis, now moving through the Caribbean. Even though the storm is not considered a direct threat to Cape Canaveral, the accompanying winds, spreading out hundreds of miles from the eye, could cause problems and perhaps a delay in the shuttle's much-anticipated Return to Flight, according to launch officials.

Shuttle managers reportedly want Discovery off the launch pad and safely ensconced in the VAB before winds reach 46 miles an hour.

They plan to reassess the storm and its possible effect on Kennedy Space Center on Friday. If it turns out Dennis is no threat to the shuttle launch, the preparations to secure the orbiter from the storm can simply be dropped.

"We can go ahead and do the preparations without burning any bridges for a Wednesday launch," NASA spokesman George Diller told the Houston Chronicle. "We really don't have to make a decision on whether to roll back until (Friday) afternoon."

FMI: www.nasa.gov