Shuttle Atlantis Heads To Hubble Space Telescope For Dangerous Repair Mission

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May 11, 2009
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Space.com is a great place to follow this mission, with possible live feed of repairs via NASA. FOX: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The seven-member crew of space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Monday for one of the riskiest shuttle flights yet — so risky, in fact, that another space shuttle is ready to launch in case they need to be rescued. Atlantis launched at 2:01 p.m. EDT on one last maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, the 19-year-old orbiting observatory that floats at an altitude littered with space debris. One good-sized chunk, traveling at thousands of miles per hour, could rip through the shuttle’s hull, leading to fatal decompression. The six men and one woman who will attempt the complicated job raised their fists as they headed out to the pad earlier Monday, eager to get going after waiting seven months to lift off. Their flight was delayed last fall, two weeks before the scheduled launch, after a critical computer on Hubble crashed and had to be remotely rebooted. “Let’s go!” commander Scott Altman said. “Yeah!” The Hubble scientists and managers were euphoric to finally be so close to liftoff. Nearly 30,000 people were at Kennedy Space Center for the launch, including space-center workers and guests. On this fifth and final repair mission, Atlantis’ crew will replace Hubble’s batteries and gyroscopes, install two new cameras and take a crack at fixing two broken science instruments, something never before attempted. Those instruments, loaded with bolts and fasteners, were not designed to be tinkered with in space. They also will remove the command and data-handling unit that failed in September and had to be revived, and put in a spare that was hustled into operation. Fresh insulating covers will be added to the outside of the telescope, and a new fine guidance sensor for pointing will be hooked up. Five spacewalks will be needed to accomplish everything. The 11-day mission comes with a higher risk than usual. Atlantis will b
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