CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- NASA managers changed their minds Tuesday and sent Space Shuttle Atlantis back to its Florida launch pad nearly 5 hours after ordering it to a hanger.
The shuttle had initially been ordered moved from the path of Tropical Storm Ernesto to the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building when forecasters predicted the storm was heading toward Florida and would produce strong winds as it crossed Cape Canaveral.
The decision to halt the journey to the VAB and return the shuttle to Launch Pad 39B came when meteorologists determined the storm would pass farther west of the Kennedy Space Center than first expected. That will allow a sufficient decrease in wind speeds to permit the shuttle to ride out the storm on the pad, officials said.
Launch Director Mike Leinbach and his team made the determination at 2:40 p.m. EDT. Atlantis had begun its trek to the Vehicle Assembly Building, atop the crawler-transporter at 10:04 a.m.
No launch date has yet been rescheduled for the mission, which will mark the resumption of construction at the International Space Station.
