Space Shuttle ATLANTIS set to fly May 11th, 2009, Monday @2:01 PM~MISSION # STS 125

Atlantis' Launch One Day Away
Sun, 10 May 2009 10:37:47 AM EDT

At this morning's final countdown status briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Test Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said that the countdown timeline is on target and "Atlantis is ready to fly." READ MORE BELOW. Atlantis will fix the Hubble telescope 350 miles about earth.

Final preparations will continue throughout the day at Launch Pad 39A, and the rotating service structure that surrounds Atlantis will be rolled back into its launch position at 5 p.m. EDT.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters improved on the forecast, now giving the team a 90-percent chance to launch Atlantis at 2:01 p.m. EDT tomorrow without weather interfering.

Also this morning, STS-125 Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Gregory C. Johnson once again practiced landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft as the entire crew readies for their mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Live countdown and launch coverage begins tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. on NASA TV and on the Web at

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/launch_blog.html.

Mission: STS-125
Orbiter: Atlantis
Primary Payload: Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4
Launch Date: May 11
Launch Time: 2:01 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39A
Mission Duration: 11 days
Landing Date: May 22
Landing Time: 11:41 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Inclination/Altitude: 28.5 degrees/304 nautical miles

Monday Launch Day Highlights
2:41 a.m. Countdown enters a two-hour planned hold at T-6 hours
4:06 a.m. Mission Management Team meets to give a "go" to begin fueling Atlantis' external tank
4:41 a.m. Countdown resumes at the T-6 hour mark with the fueling of Atlantis
5:30 a.m. STS-125 astronauts wake up for launch
6:00 a.m. Atlantis' astronauts undergo final medical exams
7:41 a.m. Countdown enters a two-hour, 30-minute hold at T-3 hours; fueling enters stable replenish
8:30 a.m. Live launch coverage begins on NASA TV and Launch Blog
10:11 a.m. Countdown resumes at T-3 hours
10:16 a.m. Atlantis astronauts depart crew quarters for Launch Pad 39A
10:46 a.m. Astronauts arrive at the launch pad and begin to board Atlantis
12:01 p.m. Atlantis' hatch is closed and latched for launch
12:51 p.m. Countdown enters a 10-minute planned hold at the T-20 minute mark
1:01 p.m. Countdown resumes at the T-20 minute mark
1:12 p.m. Countdown enters a 40-minute planned hold at the T-9 minute mark, during which the Mission Management Team, and Launch Control team will conduct polls to give a final "go" decision for launch
1:52 p.m. Countdown resumes at the T-9 minute mark
1:56 p.m. Auxiliary Power Units start at the T-5 minute mark
2:01:49 p.m. Atlantis launches on the STS-125 mission
2:10:19 p.m. Main Engine Cut Off (MECO)

Nasa's most dangerous ever shuttle mission to fix Hubble Telescope due to blast off

Nasa is set to dispatch seven astronauts on its most dangerous ever shuttle mission as it attempts to rescue the $7 billion Hubble Space Telescope from meltdown.
Led by former US Navy fighter pilot Scott Altman, 49, a one-time stunt flier for actor Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun, the crew of Atlantis will repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory, risking a potentially deadly space-junk collision that could leave them stranded 350 miles above Earth.
The mission, which is costing Nasa $1.4 billion and is due to blast off from Florida tomorrow, is considered so perilous that it was once cancelled by space agency chiefs who feared that it could cost the astronauts their lives.

It was resurrected only after they agreed to place a second shuttle and crew on emergency standby, ready to blast into space to save their colleagues should a catastrophe occur. The move is unprecedented in the 28-year history of the shuttle fleet.
'It’s a belt-and-suspenders kind of approach - but when your suspenders fail, you’re glad to have the belt,' said Cdr Altman, who is due to launch with his crew from Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral tomorrow evening, returning in 11 days.
'I don’t know if I’ll be breathing comfortably until our wheels stop back at KSC,' he added

Should a rescue become necessary, it would provide the greatest space drama since the abortive Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, say Nasa insiders, when three astronauts limped their crippled spacecraft home just hours from death, following an on-board explosion.

Among the greatest hazards facing Atlantis is the intense amount of space junk - such as broken satellites and dead rockets - that is cluttering the area where the shuttle will rendezvous with Hubble.

Shuttle flights usually only go to the International Space Station no more than 250 miles up - but at 350 miles, where Hubble flies, the hazards are far greater.

If Atlantis suffers damage, the crew would be marooned.
Hubble is considered the most valuable astronomical tool since Galileo first designed a telescope in the 17th century.
Since 1990, its high-precision lenses have peered deeper into space than any previous instrument, glimpsing back more than 13 billion years in time to provide scientists with breathtaking images of the cosmos under development, showing galaxies not long after they merged from the Big Bang.
Orbiting Earth 97,000 times and travelling around three billion miles, it has sent back nearly 600,000 photographs that have forced the rewriting of astronomy textbooks and unlocked some of the greatest mysteries of the universe.
On Wednesday Atlantis will catch up with the Hubble, where the astronauts will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to grapple it while both craft orbit Earth at 17,500mph.

During five highly risky spacewalks, they will clamber aboard Hubble to repair and replace instruments contained inside, upgrading its capabilities and prolonging its life for another five years.
Without new cameras, gyroscopes and batteries, Hubble will otherwise burn out. But with the space shuttle fleet due to retire next year and its successor not due for completion until at least 2015, this is the last chance to fix its problems.
'The adrenalin is certainly pumping,' said Dr David Leckrone, Nasa’s senior Hubble scientist.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld likens the intricacy of the tasks he and his colleagues will perform to 'performing brain surgery in space.'
They will face major hurdles, such as unscrewing dozens of minute screws while wearing gloves five layers thick and removing razor-sharp circuit boards capable of piercing the $10 million spacesuits that keep them alive in the vacuum of space.
'I would consider this the climbing Mount Everest of spacewalking missions,' said Mr Grunsfeld, 51.
'The big unknowns are where we’re pushing the envelope further than its been done before in spaceflight…we’re trying some techniques that haven’t been done before.

'In training it’s been going very well…the only hesitation I have is that Hubble has a way of surprising us.'

There have been previous servicing missions to the Hubble, but this will be the last – and the most risky.
'You could say "Oh it’s going to be a piece of cake, we’ve done this five times" - except on this mission we are going to be repairing instruments that were never designed to be repaired in orbit,' explained Ed Weiler, Nasa’s associate administrator for science missions.
He added: 'This is really going to be tough, the toughest servicing mission we have ever attempted.'
Nasa promises that, if successful, Atlantis’s mission will allow Hubble to once more 'push the boundaries of how deep in space and how far back in time humanity can see.'
Cdr Altman, who said: 'It’s going to be a busy time, it is challenging - and it’s going to be amazing.'
Click on link below to read more about the mission.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1180135/Nasas-dangerous-shuttle-mission-fix-Hubble-Telescope-blast-off.html

Emergency Space Shuttle Moved Into Place
Friday, April 17, 2009
The space shuttle Endeavour rolled out to a Florida launch pad on Friday to stand by for an unprecedented rescue mission NASA hopes it never has to fly.

Endeavour arrived at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT), where it will be primed to launch within weeks of any emergency aboard its sister ship Atlantis during next month's risky repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Atlantis is poised atop its own launch pad for a planned May 12 liftoff.

"It's the first time that anyone has had a rescue mission standing by," NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel told SPACE.com from the Florida spaceport. "We thought it gives us that amount of extra insurance."

Endeavour has actually made the trek to the launch pad once before to serve as the upcoming Hubble mission's rescue ship.

The shuttle was on standby last September until a failure aboard Hubble delayed a planned October launch for Atlantis.

Altogether, two orbiters have been at their launch pads simultaneously only 18 times in NASA's 28-year history of shuttle flight, Beutel said.

"We really do expect this to be the last time we ever have two space shuttles on the launch pad at the same time," he added.

Risky repair flight

NASA has said the likelihood of requiring a rescue mission for the seven Hubble-bound astronauts is extremely remote.

But the space agency is taking the precaution because unlike recent shuttle flights to the International Space Station, where astronauts could seek shelter if their spacecraft is severely damaged, the crew of Atlantis will have no such safe haven.

Commanded by veteran NASA astronaut Scott Altman, Atlantis is poised to launch toward Hubble on May 12 from Launch Pad 39A, which is near Endeavour's current perch.

The much-delayed mission is NASA's final shuttle flight to overhaul Hubble and includes five back-to-back spacewalks to repair broken equipment, add new instruments and extend the iconic space telescope's lifetime through at least 2014.

Because Hubble flies in a higher orbit and different inclination than the International Space Station, Atlantis would be unable to reach the orbiting laboratory if it suffers a critical failure or severe damage its vital heat shield.

The mission also includes a higher risk of damage from orbital debris or micrometeorites, though that risk increase appears to be lower than initially thought, NASA officials have said.

It is because of the lack of a safe haven aboard the station that NASA opted to prepare Endeavour for a potential rescue.

The shuttle is already slated to fly a space station construction mission in June, but will be primed to launch with a skeleton crew relatively soon after an emergency is declared, Beutel said.

"Within that timeframe, we would be prepared to launch Endeavour with a crew of four astronauts," Beutel said, adding that the Atlantis astronauts would stage several spacewalks to abandon their ship and return home aboard Endeavour. "We would then splash Atlantis down safely somewhere in the Pacific Ocean."

Shuttle double duty

If Atlantis's Hubble mission goes smoothly as planned, Endeavour would simply be moved to the adjacent launch pad in late May for a planned June 13 launch to the International Space Station, Beutel said.

NASA plans to launch its remaining shuttle missions from Launch Pad 39A and use the nearby Pad 39B for its new Ares I rocket and Orion capsules, which will replace the agency's space shuttle fleet, once Endeavour is moved, he added.

Over the weekend, NASA will deliver the hardware for Atlantis's Hubble mission to the shuttle's launch pad, offering a relatively rare sight of two shuttles exposed atop their pads with their shroud-like service structures retracted.

The two spacecraft are expected to be visible through Monday and will be photographed from the ground and air, Beutel said, adding that NASA expects about 50,000 people to visit the space center during a Saturday employee Family Day.

"I think people are really excited about it," Beutel said.