Atlantis's launch was to be the first since space shuttle flights were suspended in July after cracks were discovered in the propulsion systems of all four US shuttles.

The shuttle was originally scheduled to depart Wednesday, but its launch was delayed until at least Thursday as a result of the hurricane, which is now swirling in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens Houston, Texas, where the shuttle's mission control is based.

NASA officials said they expect the hurricane will have passed by Monday, making the launch possible.

The time frame for Monday "is the same, between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pmand 2200 GMT)," said NASA spokesman George Diller.

Power to NASA's Houston, Texas-based Johnson Space Center was to be cut off completely by midday, in preparation for Hurricane Lili's passage, NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said.

Buckingham noted that control of the International Space Station "was handed over to the Houston support group in Moscow."

Atlantis' 11-day mission, with a team of six astronauts aboard, is to install a 15-meter (45-foot) 390 million dollar arm on the International Space Station.

This 02 October 2002 Satellite image released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Lili (L-Center). Forecasters are saying that Hurricane Lili will likely become a Category 3 storm and make landfall 03 October. Earlier 02 October Lili was centered 405 miles south-southeast of New Orleans. It was moving west-northwest about 16 mph. AFP PHOTO/NOAA TECTONIC AND WEATHER WIRE

related report
Texas, Louisiana Go On High Alert At Hurricane Lili Bears Down On Gulf Coast
Miami (AFP) Oct 03, 2002 - Bulldozers and sandbaggers shored up levies in the Mississippi river delta lowlands and Texas coastal regions battened down the hatches as Hurricane Lili churned across the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall forecast for Thursday.

Texas and Louisiana were put on high alert and tens of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate coastal regions as Lili, after cutting a swath of destruction Tuesday through Cuba, was upgraded by the National Weather Service's Hurricane Center to a dangerous category four hurricane.

At 2100 GMT, the eye of the hurricane was about 450 kilometers (285 miles) south of New Orleans and moving northwest at a speed of 26 km (15 miles) per hour, said the center.

A hurricane warning was in effect from east of High Island, Texas, to the Mississippi Delta.

The center warned the storm, which had forced delay of the US space shuttle Atlantis' launch from Tuesday until Monday, would likely increase in force as it barrelled over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Lili already is the strongest storm to threaten the Gulf coast since Hurricane Camille in 1969, which killed 256 people in Mississippi, Louisiana and Virginia.

NASA said the storm threatened to interfere with communications between the shuttle and its Houston, Texas, command center.

"A life-threatening storm surge of 10 to 15 feet (3-4.5 meters) above normal tide levels is likely near and to the east of where the center crosses the coast," the hurricane center warned. "This surge could spread well inland across the low-lying areas of the hurricane warning area," the center warned.

Category four hurricanes are capable of ripping roofs of houses, uprooting trees and overturning cars as far as motor vehicles up to 10 km (six miles) inland.

Officials in Texas and Louisiana were urging half a million people living in that danger band to voluntarily evacuate, and Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a disaster alert, calling up 201 National Guard troops for standby rescue duty.

"This declaration will assist communities, counties and state emergency personnel in their efforts to help Texans prepare for this storm," said Perry. "Hurricane Lili will cause a great deal of damage wherever it hits."

A week after being battered by Hurricane Isidore, people along the Gulf coast were bracing for yet another bruising round with Mother Nature. Many residents of Mississippi spent the past week between storms buying hurricane insurance or updating their policies.

"Sometimes it takes that threat," said Elvis Gates of Elvis Gates Agency in Biloxi, Mississippi. The problems brought by Isidore made people think, "I may not have my ducks in a row."

The hurricane center said NASA imagery showed Lili moving towards the Louisiana Coast in the Lake Charles region, with the brunt of damage expected east of where Lili makes landfall, probably late Thursday.

"Preparations to protect life and property in the hurricane warning area should be rushed to completion," the center said.

Lili tore across Cuba for less than 90 minutes Tuesday, leaving a swath of destruction, uprooting trees causing extensive damage to homes, schools, tobacco plants and electricity and telephone pylons.

earlier related report
NASA Eyes Thursday Launch Window
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Oct 01, 2002
NASA, with a wary eye on the progress of Hurricane Lili, on Tuesday pushed back the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from Wednesday to Thursday at the earliest.

From the moment a shuttle blasts off from here, it is monitored by the NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, home to the space shuttle flight control center.

And the storm, which is expected to pass within 260 kilometers (140 miles) of Houston, could interfere with the center's communications with the shuttle.

Atlantis is the first shuttle scheduled for orbit since structural defects forced shutdown of the program last July. At that time, tiny cracks were found in all four shuttles along the metal fuel liners that help smooth the delivery of liquid hydrogen to the main engine turbo pumps.

Launches were postponed until August, when NASA found cracks in the giant crawlers that transport the shuttles from their docks to the launch pad. Launches were postponed again to late September.

"The launch has been delayed to no earlier than Thursday between 2:00 and 6:00 pm, due to weather concerns at the Johnson Space Center," said NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham.

The decision to suspend was made after a Tuesday afternoon meeting in which NASA officials viewed the likely consequences if Lili takes the forecasted path near Houston.

Now a category two hurricane, Lili on Tuesday was blasting western Cuba with 160 kilometers an hour (100 mph) winds, the US National Weather Service said, probably gaining intensity as it churns out into the Gulf of Mexico.

"One model sees the hurricane reaching Louisiana on Friday, but it could go further west, toward Houston," said George Diller, a NASA spokesman.

However, he said, another model foresees the hurricane going further to the west, toward Houston. "There could be high winds," Diller added. "There may still be a situation where they may have to evacuate" the Houston space center, possibly even with a loss of power.

A category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale has a 154.5-177 kph (96-110 mph) wind speed range.

Earlier, NASA's shuttle programme manager Ron Dittemore underlined that Atlantis was otherwise in fine shape to launch.

"Engineering and ground processing teams have done outstanding work in the past few months to ensure the readiness of Atlantis for a safe flight," he said. "Atlantis is in great shape and ready to fly."

Atlantis' 11-day mission, with a team of six astronauts aboard, aims to install a 15-meter (45-foot) arm on the International Space Station (ISS), which will include part of its air conditioning system.

Atlantis is due to return on October 13. The next flight to the space station will be by the shuttle Endeavor, with take-off scheduled for November 10 with a replacement crew aboard.

This will be the 26th flight by Atlantis and the 15th mission as part of the ISS construction programme.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineers have been working round the clock to ensure problems do not seriously hold up construction of the ISS, now under threat due to the financial woes of one of its main partners, Russia.

The United States last week urged the Russian authorities to meet their commitment to the space station.

All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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