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Trench Repairs Underway, Crew Training On Schedule

Posted on: Monday, 7 July 2008, 18:30 CDT

Workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are removing bricks from the damaged wall of the flame trench at Launch Pad 39A. The repairs remain on schedule and are not expected to hamper the launch of STS-125 on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The brick removal and related work is to be completed next week. Launch is targeted for Oct. 8.

The seven astronauts who will fly space shuttle Atlantis to the orbiting observatory will visit Kennedy later this week to check out the tools they will use during the flight. The visit is known as a crew equipment interface test and it gives the astronauts a chance to get familiar with the items they will employ in space.

The Hubble mission is commanded by Scott Altman, who also led the most recent Hubble servicing flight, STS-109. The crew will install new equipment on the space telescope that will enable the observatory to continue its landmark work for another five years.

Also at Kennedy, preparation of Atlantis continues on pace. Space shuttle Endeavour is also on schedule for launch in the unlikely event of an emergency with Atlantis during the Hubble mission. Workers will begin stacking the solid rocket boosters for Endeavour on Thursday. Endeavour will launch to the International Space Station during STS-126, targeted for launch on Nov. 10.

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Image Caption: A view of a 100' X 20' section of the east wall of the north flame trench on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

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