Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said a firm launch date depends on how soon workers can return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after Ernesto passes. The center will be closed Wednesday due to the storm.

"We do not have a firm date. It's dependant on how long we'll be cleared for the storm," Leinbach told reporters at the space center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. "But it's in the (September) 6-7 kind of time frame."

NASA earlier had started moving Atlantis back to its hangar to protect it from Ernesto, but decided to reverse course and send the shuttle back to its seaside launch pad as the storm appeared to no longer pose a threat.

It takes about eight days to prepare a shuttle for liftoff once it is placed on its launch pad.

The Atlantis launch will be the first International Space Station construction mission since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration wants to launch by September 7 to avoid interfering with a Russian Soyuz mission.

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