NASA announces revised launch dates

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency announced a revised launch date for the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the launch date for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 Hubble mission has been reset to Oct. 14 at 10:19 p.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"With the delay of Atlantis' launch from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14, shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 supply mission to the International Space Station … will move from Nov. 12 to Nov. 16 at 7:07 p.m. EST," NASA said.

The revised launch target dates were made Wednesday during the Space Shuttle Program Flight Readiness Review. NASA said the revisions were made necessary by Hurricane Ike's affects on mission and flight crew operations and the temporary closing of the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"While vehicle processing at Kennedy continues on schedule, the lost week of training and mission preparation due to the impacts of the storm led to the decision to slip the dates," NASA said.