NASA postpones shuttle mission to Hubble by four days

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — NASA announced Wednesday that it has postponed the shuttle Atlantis' repair and upgrade mission to the Hubble space telescope for four days, until October 14 at the earliest.

The Atlantis is now scheduled for a night lift off 10:10 pm (0210 GMT October 15), from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA blamed the delay on the effects of Hurricane Ike, which struck the Gulf coast of Texas on September 13 and forced the Johnson Space Center in Houston to close.

"While vehicle processing at Kennedy continues on schedule, the lost week of training and mission preparation (at Johnson) due to the impact of the storm led to the decision to slip the dates," NASA said in a statement.

It is the second time the Atlantis,...