CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA has
moved up the launch window for shuttle
Atlantis by one day.
Shuttle managers decided
Thursday they will have enough light to get good pictures of Atlantis and its
external tank if the launch happens Aug. 27 instead of Aug. 28, a possibility
the agency had been studying for several weeks.
The launch window for Atlantis
now runs from Aug. 27 through Sept. 13, although NASA and the Russians have
agreed the shuttle probably would not
launch after Sept. 7 to avoid a potential conflict with another visiting
spacecraft.
A Russian Soyuz is set to
deliver the next permanent crew to the International Space
Station in mid-September. A shuttle launch too late during the existing
Atlantis window could result in both spaceships being docked at the orbiting
outpost at the same time, a violation of flight rules.
In addition to the
oversized crew that would result from both ships being there at once, the space
station partners prefer several days cushion between visiting ships to give the
permanent outpost crew time to rest and get ready.
The Aug. 27 opening of the
window remains a target only. An official launch date will be set at a Flight
Readiness Review meeting next month. Meanwhile, Atlantis is set to roll
to the launch pad early Monday morning.
Published under license from FLORIDA
TODAY. Copyright © 2006 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material
may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
advertisement
