Tue, Aug 26, 2008
Launch Scheduled For October 8
Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled
to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on
Saturday, August 30. Atlantis is targeted to lift off October 8 to
repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle
Assembly Building is scheduled for 12:01 am EDT. The fully
assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external tank
and twin solid rocket boosters, was mounted on a mobile launcher
platform and will be delivered to the pad atop a
crawler-transporter. The crawler will travel slower than 1 mph
during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take
approximately six hours.
Repairs to Launch Pad 39A's flame trench wall were completed
August 5 after crews installed a steel grid structure and covered
it in a heat-resistant material.
As ANN reported, the pad's north flame trench
was damaged when bricks tore away from the wall during the May 31
launch of space shuttle Discovery.
During its 11-day mission that includes five spacewalks, the
STS-125's crew of seven astronauts will install two new instruments
in Hubble, as well as replace the Fine Guidance Sensor. The result
will be six working, complementary science instruments with
capabilities beyond those now available, and an extended
operational lifespan of the telescope through at least 2013.
Atlantis will be commanded by Scott Altman. Gregory C. Johnson
will be pilot. Mission Specialists will be John Grunsfeld, Mike
Massimino, Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good.
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