Journey to Hubble Telescope
Astronauts once again faced trouble servicing Hubble Telescope. They had done their job taking more time then planned and things are fine now.
The final Space Shuttle flight to NASA’s orbiting Hubble Space Telescope set for blast off on May 11 at 2:01PM EDT from Launch Pad 39 A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is NASA’s 5th and final shuttle mission to service and upgrade Hubble. The stakes could not be higher for this action packed, dauntingly complex and long delayed mission. It’s certain to be “High drama at the High Frontier” for this flight designated as SM-4 (Servicing Mission 4).
This is a scheduled 11-day mission, including 5 days of Extra-vehicular activity (EVAs) to work on the Hubble.
In this post we had covered this space mission with mind blowing photographs.
Space Shuttle Atlantis rolls out at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
space shuttle Atlantis rotates up toward a vertical position above the transfer aisle, The shuttle was lifted into High Bay 3 where it was attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform.
Under early morning light, space shuttle Atlantis makes its slow way to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The 3.4-mile trip took about seven-and-a-half hours.
The space shuttle Atlantis sits on launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at night in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 10, 2009.
Sunset scene, one day before launch.
The tools that will be used to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope are displayed in the NASA News Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA technicians working at the external fuel tanks as the Space Shuttle Atlantis sits on launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center on May 10, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Two NASA T-38 jet trainer aircraft fly over the Space Shuttle Endeavour on Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. Space Shuttle Endeavour is a backup to Space Shuttle Atlantis. Currently, Endeavour is being prepared as a backup vehicle for Atlantis, and it will be designated STS-400 if in the unlikely event it’s needed for a rescue flight.
Space Shuttle Atlantis Crew leave the Operations and Checkout building enroute to board the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center.
In the White Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-125 Mission Specialist Michael Good prepares to enter space shuttle Atlantis for launch.
Space Shuttle Atlantis life off at 2:01 p.m. (EDT) on May 11, 2009 from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member STS-125 crew head toward Earth orbit.
45 seconds after launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis climbs away from its exhaust plume and launch pad at Kennedy Space Center May 11, 2009.
Solar panels on the Hubble Space Telescope.
The NASA space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope side by side during solar transit at 12:17p.m. EDT, on May 13, 2009. The two spaceships were at an altitude of 600 km (375 miles) and they zipped across the sun in only 0.8 seconds.
Astronauts Megan McArthur, Mike Massimino (center) and Andrew Feustel, all STS-125 mission specialists, prepare to eat a meal on the middeck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Still photo of the Hubble Space Telescope by an STS-125 crewmember onboard on the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Low-level winds rushing over the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa created cloud vortex streets which share this scene with the top of the Hubble Space Telescope locked down in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis
till photo of the Hubble Space Telescope following grapple of the giant observatory by the shuttle’s Canadian-built remote manipulator system.
Astronaut Andrew Feustel, mission specialist, performs work on the Hubble Space Telescope as the first of five STS-125 spacewalks kicks off a week’s work on the orbiting observatory.
Astronaut Michael Good handles a bundle of tools and equipment for use on the Hubble Space Telescope in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis – part of a five-day agenda of spacewalking and work on the giant orbital observatory.
One of the crewmembers aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis snapped this photo of heavy cloud cover over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld holds onto a handrail as he performs work on the Hubble Space Telescope on May 14, 2009.
With a mostly dark home planet behind him, astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, rides Atlantis’ remote manipulator system arm to the exact position he needs to be to continue work on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astronauts John Grunsfeld (l) and Andrew Feustel, both STS-125 mission specialists, give a thumbs-up sign on the middeck of Space Shuttle Atlantis following the mission’s third session of extravehicular activity (EVA) May 16, 2009.
Astronaut Andrew Feustel, STS-125 mission specialist, positioned on a foot restraint on the end of Atlantis’ remote manipulator system (RMS), participates in the mission’s third session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as work continues to refurbish and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
In this close-up scene featuring astronaut John Grunsfeld performing a spacewalk to work on the Hubble Space Telescope, the reflection in his helmet visor shows astronaut Andrew Feustel taking the photo as he is perched on the end of the Canadian-built remote manipulator system arm.Via[Link]
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