Image above: Atlantis heads back to Launch Pad 39B where it will ride out Tropical Storm Ernesto. Photo credit: NASA

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Atlantis to weather Ernesto at the pad

Atlantis is returning to Launch Pad 39B to weather Tropical Storm Ernesto in place.
It's expected to be in place around 8 p.m. EDT, and mission managers are confident in the ability of the rotating service structure to protect the vehicle on the pad.
Depending on how the Kennedy Space Center weathers the storm, a launch attempt could come as early as next week.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Leroy Cain, launch integration manager, explained that when the decision was made Tuesday morning to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the "forecast was just not quite good enough."

During a morning meeting, however, Launch Director Mike Leinbach introduced the option for stopping the rollback if the forecast improved, and the team implemented that option during the afternoon when the 11 a.m. EDT forecast showed enough improvement.

The decision came as the projected path for Tropical Storm Ernesto skirted further west than first expected, allowing a sufficient decrease in winds to permit the shuttle to ride out the storm at the pad. The team made the determination at 2:40 p.m. and Atlantis began the return trip to the pad. Its trek to the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the crawler-transporter had started at 10:04 a.m.

Atlantis' Crew and Mission
The STS-115 crew, which includes two radio hams, consists of Commander Brent W. Jett Jr., Pilot Christopher J. Ferguson and Mission Specialists Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, KD5TVR, Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, KC5ZSX and Steven G. MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency

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