With shuttle Atlantis already at KSCs launch pad 39B, Discovery had been slated to make a six-hour move out to nearby pad 39A on Wednesday. It would have marked the first time since late 1998 that shuttle vehicles were being readied for flight on both of KSCs launch pads.
Senior shuttle program managers, however, were concerned about the risk involved with having two shuttles or half of its $8 billion shuttle fleet at the oceanside pads during the September peak of hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through November 30 each year.
NASA hurricane rules call for a shuttle to be moved from a launch pad back and into the assembly building if winds are expected to exceed 69 miles (110 kilometers) per hour.
The launch towers at the pads are equipped with $3 million weather-protection systems, but the backs of the shuttles would be exposed to driving rain and high winds during tropical storms.
NASA, consequently, decided to delay Discoverys move until September 11 or three days after the planned September 8 launch of Atlantis on a space station outfitting mission.
"Shuttle program managers decided the prudent and cautious thing is to keep Discovery in the VAB until after the Atlantis launch," Wells said.
Discovery and a crew of seven astronauts are scheduled to outfit the international station with the first piece of what eventually will be a 356-foot (108-meter) metal backbone.
The stations stabilizing flight-control gyroscopes also are to be carried aloft on the flight, which will be NASAs 100th shuttle mission.
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