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Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Space Shuttle Main Engines Launch Astronauts for Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission

Posted on: Monday, 11 May 2009, 14:39 CDT

CANOGA PARK, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) once again is helping to push the boundaries of how far humanity can see into the depths of space. Three PWR Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) launched astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis today from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-125 to service the Hubble Space Telescope. STS-125 is the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

"We are incredibly proud to be part of this milestone mission both for Space Shuttle Atlantis and for the remarkable Hubble, whose discoveries have forever changed our knowledge of the universe," said Jim Paulsen, SSME program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Atlantis is carrying two new instruments to the Hubble, in addition to a replacement targeting camera, six new gyroscopes, and batteries to allow the telescope to continue to function through 2013. Astronauts will also install a new thermal blanket layer to provide improved insulation, and a mechanism to help in the safe de-orbiting of the spacecraft by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.

STS-125 marks the 30th flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the last planned manned mission to the space telescope, and the final flight of a space shuttle not related to the assembly of the International Space Station. PWR also powered Hubble's previous servicing missions: STS-61, STS-82, STS-103 and STS-109

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Source: PR Newswire

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