March 31, 2009 — It took more than six hours today for space shuttle Atlantis to make the 3.4-mile journey on the back of a transport crawler to Launch Pad 39A. But its next journey, set for May 12, will be a much longer one as it travels to space to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Atlantis reached the gates of the launch pad where it stopped so that technicians could grease the bearings of the crawler-transporter, and then continued the final leg of its journey, arriving at the launch pad at 11:15 a.m. EDT. The shuttle had begun its trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building at 3:54 a.m.
During its 11-day mission, the crew of seven astronauts will make the final shuttle flight to Hubble. During five spacewalks, they will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace components. The result will be six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what is now available, and an extended operational lifespan for the telescope through at least 2014.
Scott Altman will be the commander of Atlantis. Gregory C. Johnson will be the pilot. Mission specialists will be John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good.
Click here to find out where the Hubble Telescope is now.
Hubble Fun Facts
- Hubble whirls around Earth at 5 miles per second. If a car could travel that fast, a road trip from Los Angeles to New York City would take only 10 minutes.
- Hubble completes one full orbit every 97 minutes.
- Hubble is nearly the size of a large school bus, but it can fit inside the cargo bay of a space shuttle.
- In an average orbit, Hubble uses about the same amount of energy as 28 100-watt light bulbs.
- Hubble travels more than 150 million miles (241 million km) per year.
Source: Hubblesite.com
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Space shuttle Atlantis nears Launch Pad 39A in preparation for the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA TV
Hubble floating above Earth during a servicing mission in March 2002.Photo credit: NASA
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