Earlier today, NASA officials confirmed space shuttle Discovery would stay on its launch pad instead of moving back to its 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) due to the risk proposed by Hurricane Dennis, which is currently present around the Gulf Coast area.

"Because the storm has ended its eastward drift and the primary track is slightly more to the west, it was decided this morning that Discovery will not be rolled back from the launch pad," said NASA in a statement.

The space organization confirmed that mission managers had a meeting on Thursday that discussed the possibility of moving the space shuttle back into its building due to the possibility of aggressive winds reaching speeds upwards of 40 knots. However, the current weather forecast disagrees with such a predicament, which led mission managers to make the aforementioned decision.

NASA said Discovery is ready for its July 13th launch at 3:51 p.m. EDT.

This will be the first space shuttle to fly since the Columbia disaster back in 2003. NASA commented that it has taken necessary precautions to ensure the safety of astronauts and the shuttle itself.