(March 4, 2007)—The space shuttle Atlantis started the slow trek from the launch pad back to a hangar Sunday so technicians can inspect damage caused by an hail storm and determine what kind of repairs should be made.

The more than three-mile journey aboard the massive crawler-transporter started was expected to last about seven hours.

It's the 17th time in the 26-year-old shuttle program that one of the vehicles had to be moved back to the Vehicle Assembly Building from the launch pad.

Last week's hail storm caused thousands of dings in the insulating foam covering Atlantis' external fuel tank and forced NASA to postpone the space shuttle's launch from March 15 to at least late April.

Once Atlantis is back inside, technicians will be able to assess whether the repairs to the tank can be made at the Kennedy Space Center.

If the tank needs to be shipped back to its manufacturer near New Orleans, the launch would likely be pushed back to June.

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