ASTRONAUTS SET TO MAKE FIRST HUBBLE SPACEWALK - STS-125 astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel are set to make the first of five Hubble servicing spacewalks Thursday. Scheduled to begin work at 8:16 a.m. EDT, the astronauts will remove Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and replace it with the new Wide Field Camera 3. They will also replace a failed science data processing computer that delayed the launch from last October and install a mechanism for a spacecraft to capture Hubble for de-orbit at the end of its life. More (Source: NASA - May 14)
ATLANTIS CAPTURES HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - The Hubble Space Telescope has been captured by space shuttle Atlantis' robotic arm. Using views from a camera centered in a structure where the telescope will be berthed, McArthur will lower Hubble into a special cradle, called the Flight Support System, or FSS, in Atlantis’ payload bay. The telescope will be latched to the high-tech, lazy Susan-type device for the duration of the servicing work. An umbilical adjacent to the rotating FSS will be remotely connected to provide electrical power from Atlantis to the telescope. Then, Altman will position the shuttle to allow Hubble’s solar arrays to gather energy from the sun to fully charge the telescope’s batteries. More (Source: NASA - May 13)
SPACE SHUTTLE SUFFERED 'MINOR' DAMAGE AT LAUNCH - A survey of space shuttle Atlantis' outer body has revealed that four tiles on the right side have "some dings" in them, the flight director said Tuesday. "As we were going through the surveys we did see probably about 21 inches in all ... four tiles with some dings in them," Tony Ceccacci told reporters. "To me, I'm not the tile expert, but they looked very minor." More (Source: CNN - May 13)
SPACE SHUTTLE CATCHES UP TO HUBBLE - The space shuttle Atlantis took up its position Wednesday close to the Hubble Space Telescope, nearing the end of a chase that began almost two days earlier. Atlantis is preparing for its robot arm to grab hold of the orbiting telescope at 12:54 p.m. ET. The operation is a delicate dance for the shuttle crew, involving periodic firings of the shuttle's thrusters to align it with the space telescope -- all of this taking place about 350 miles above Earth. More (Source: CNN - May 13)
STS-125 CREW TO INSPECT HEAT SHIELD, PREPARE FOR RENDEZVOUS WITH HUBBLE - During their first full day in orbit, the STS-125 crew members will inspect space shuttle Atlantis’ heat shield and prepare for Wednesday’s rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope. The crew will use Atlantis’ robotic arm and orbiter boom extension to check out the spacecraft’s underside and the leading edges of its wings. The inspections are conducted to see if any damage occurred to the heat shield during the climb to orbit that began when Atlantis lifted off at 2:01 p.m. EDT Monday from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. More (Source: NASA - May 12)
LIFTOFF! SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS, STS-125 ASTRONAUTS EN ROUTE TO HUBBLE - Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, rising on twin columns of fire to embark on ST-125, the final shuttle mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Veteran astronaut Scott Altman is serving as commander, and retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists rounding out the crew are: veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur. More (Source: NASA - May 11)
SHUTTLE ATLANTIS READY FOR LIFTOFF - Final preparations are under way for Monday's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in a repair mission for the Hubble Space Telescope. The countdown timeline is on target, and "Atlantis is ready to fly," said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA's test director. Preparations for the 2:01 p.m. ET flight will continue throughout the day. The forecast is favorable, according to the shuttle's weather officer, Kathy Winters, who said there's a 90 percent chance the weather will cooperate. More (Source: CNN - May 11)
RESCUE SHUTTLE AT LAUNCH PAD FOR HUBBLE TRIP - In what's expected to be the last time ever, both of NASA's shuttle launch pads are occupied. Atlantis is on one, primed for a flight this coming week to the Hubble Space Telescope. Endeavour sits on the other a mile away for a mission no one wants. Endeavour is on unprecedented standby in case the seven astronauts who go up on Atlantis need to be rescued. Atlantis and its crew are headed into space for one last repair job on the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. It's a venture that was canceled five years ago because it was considered too dangerous. After a more recent delay, the launch finally is scheduled for Monday. More (Source: The Associated Press - May 10)
NASA CLEARS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS FOR MONDAY LAUNCH TO HUBBLE - After months of delay, NASA cleared space shuttle Atlantis for a Monday launch to the Hubble Space Telescope. Mission managers concluded Saturday that Atlantis is ready to take off on the long-awaited Hubble repair mission, the fifth and final one. Shuttle Endeavour is also in good shape at the other launch pad; it's on standby in case Atlantis is damaged during the flight and its seven astronauts need to be rescued. More (Source: Fox News - May 10)
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