Ways to Move Shuttle in Hurricane Studied

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. —  Playing it safe, NASA managers are studying options for hauling the shuttle Atlantis away from its seaside launch pad, possibly as early as Thursday, if Hurricane Hugo threatens the Florida coast, officials said Monday.

Although the storm’s path was not clear, officials said it was possible that a decision could be made to stop assembly of boosters needed for a December shuttle mission--delaying the flight about a week--to make room for Atlantis in the Vehicle Assembly Building if it becomes necessary to move the orbiter.

Atlantis, mounted on launch pad 39B just a few hundred yards from the Atlantic, is scheduled to blast off Oct. 12 on a high-priority mission to launch the $1.4-billion Galileo probe to Jupiter.