NASA’s Shuttle Atlantis Launches on a Final Mission to Hubble

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Space shuttle Atlantis with its seven-member crew launched at 2:01 p.m. EDT Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

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Atlantis’ 11-day mission will include five spacewalks to refurbish Hubble with state-of-the-art science instruments designed to improve the telescope’s discovery capabilities by up to 70 times while extending its lifetime through at least 2014.

Shortly before liftoff, Commander Scott Altman thanked the teams that helped make the launch possible.

“At last our launch has come along,” said Altman. “…Getting to this point has been challenging, but the whole team, everyone, has pulled together to take us into space.”

Altman is joined on STS-125 by Pilot Gregory C. Johnson and Mission Specialists Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good. McArthur will serve as the flight engineer and lead for robotic arm operations while the remaining mission specialists pair up for the hands-on spacewalk work after Hubble is captured and secured in the payload bay. Altman, Grunsfeld and Massimino are space shuttle and Hubble mission veterans. Johnson, Feustel and Good are first-time space fliers.

The STS-125 mission is the 126th shuttle flight, the 30th for Atlantis and the second of five planned in 2009. Hubble was delivered to space on April 24, 1990, on the STS-31 mission. STS-125 is referred to as Servicing Mission 4, although it is technically the fifth servicing flight to the telescope.

“Hubble has a long history of providing outstanding science and beautiful pictures,” said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “If the servicing mission is successful, it will give us a telescope that will continue to astound both scientists and the public for many years to come.”

Among Hubble’s greatest discoveries is the age of the universe (13.7 billion years); the finding that virtually all major galaxies have black holes at their center; the discovery that the process of planetary formation is relatively common; the first ever organic molecule in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star; and evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating — caused by an unknown force that makes up approximately 72 percent of the matter-energy content of the universe.

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of Atlantis’ mission. NASA Television features live mission events, daily mission status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. NASA TV is webcast at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

NASA’s Web coverage of STS-125 includes current mission information, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, also is available on the main space shuttle Web site at:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing. To access the NASA News Twitter feed and other agency Twitter feeds, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate

Daily news conferences with STS-125 mission managers will take place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. During normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT Monday through Friday, reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations. Please contact your preferred NASA facility before its daily close of business to confirm its availability before each event.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

SOURCE NASA