Yikes! Lightning Strikes Near Shuttle on Launchpad

By Nancy Atkinson - April 29, 2011 at 2:05 PM UTC | Space Exploration

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Wondering why the rollback of the Rotating Service Structure was delayed last night? Here's your answer! NASA photographer Bill Ingalls captured part of the lightning storm that delayed the rollback until nearly midnight local time at Kennedy Space Center. It was originally slated to start at about 7 pm. But the late rollback went off without a hitch and preparations this morning are going well. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for no late afternoon Florida storms cropping up today. Liftoff time is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. EDT (1947 UTC) as Endeavour is about to set sail on her final voyage to space.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com