Special report: Launch of
Atlantis
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The space shuttle Atlantis returns to
launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida
August 29, 2006. (Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- After weathering
tropical depression Ernesto at the launch pad, the space shuttle Atlantis is set
for launch from the Kennedy Space Center at 12:29 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6, according
to NASA TV on Thursday.
No damage to facilities or flight hardware is
reported at the Kennedy Space Center following the exit of Ernesto from Florida.
"We're back," said NASA spokesman Bill Johnson. "There was no water intrusion in
any operational areas, and so basically we came through this one unscathed."
So the mission managers set Sept. 6 as the new date
for the launch of Atlantis on STS-115, he said.
As Ernesto passed through the area on Wednesday, the
peak wind recorded on Launch Pad 39B, where Atlantis stands, was measured at 44
miles per hour (about 70 kph) at 4:45 p.m. EDT, NASA said. The shuttle was
surrounded by the rotating service structure as NASA decided to protect it in
place when weather forecasts improved.
On Tuesday, shuttle mission managers halted a
rollback of the space shuttle to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building
as the projected path of the tropical storm skirted further west than first
expected, allowing a sufficient decrease in winds to permit the shuttle to ride
out the storm at the pad.
During the STS-115 flight mission, Commander Brent
Jett and his five crewmates will travel to the International Space Station to
install a new 17-ton segment of the station's truss backbone, adding a new set
of giant solar panels and batteries to the complex.
Three spacewalks are planned as well. Enditem
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The space shuttle Atlantis leaves launch
pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida August 29,
2006. Photo Gallery
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BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA said on
Tuesday that Sept. 6 was the earliest possible date for its next attempt to
launch space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to the International Space
Station.
WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Xinhua) -- NASA on Tuesday
decided to move space shuttle Atlantis off its launch pad and back inside the
protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida, according NASA's official website.
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