Hubble Repair Mission Delayed Until Early Next Year

Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to roll back from Launch Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, October 20, to await launch on its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. First motion of the shuttle is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. EDT.

As ANN reported, Atlantis' targeted launch on October 10 was delayed when a system that transfers science data from the orbiting observatory to Earth malfunctioned on September 27. The new target launch date is under review.

The fully assembled space shuttle Atlantis, consisting of the orbiter, external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, is mounted on a Mobile Launcher Platform and will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly Building atop a crawler transporter. The crawler will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey, which is expected to take approximately six hours.

The next space shuttle flight will be shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the International Space Station, targeted for launch November 14. Endeavour is scheduled to move from Launch Pad 39B to Pad 39A on October 25; the shuttle was moved into its initial position last month, so it would available as a possible rescue ship for the Hubble mission.

FMI: www.nasa.gov