STS-125 Shuttle Mission to Service Hubble Space Telescope Launches on Monday 7pm

Nate--IRL-- · 9 May 2009 at 22:57

In what's expected to be the last time ever, both of NASA's shuttle launch pads are occupied. Atlantis is on one, primed for a flight this coming week to the Hubble Space Telescope. Endeavour sits on the other a mile away for a mission no one wants.

Endeavour is on unprecedented standby in case the seven astronauts who go up on Atlantis need to be rescued.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hOt2bUykNnyajT93GgF4bmvQawKgD982R8FG0

I know a few of you will be interested this, I love watching these online. Scheduled for launch at 2.01pm EDT (18.01 GMT, 19.01 BST) Here is the standard Nasa TV link. There are better quality streams, but I can't find them ATM, I'll update when I find them.

Edit:- 1200kbps stream

Nate

sunlitsix · 9 May 2009 at 23:08

thanks for the heads up, i found the last launch fascinating :cool:

Berserker · 9 May 2009 at 23:08

Nate,

Thanks. Nice find on the picture front too. Having two shuttles on the pads has happened before, though I don't recall when. Suffice to say it won't be happening again.

There is also significant chance that this will be the last true science mission, and the only one post-Columbia, though there's talk of adding an extra science mission at the end of current manifest.

PS - here's a handy link for all the various bitrate streams courtesy Wikipedia. They don't always all work, so if one fails, try another:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_TV#Internet_feeds

Mik3 · 9 May 2009 at 23:16

Looking forward to this risky mission, hopefully everything will be OK.

Berserker · 9 May 2009 at 23:19

Here's an interactive feature that covers what the mission is intended to accomplish:

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/hubble_servicing/

jr1104 · 9 May 2009 at 23:49

This looks to be a good mission, and it will renew the life of the Hubble, which has brought us many awesome photos. Hopefully won't be any need for Endeavour either.

ChrisJSY · 10 May 2009 at 02:55

If Im reading this right, this is the last time they will have two shuttles on at once, one back up in case things go wrong.

But this isn't the last shuttle mission, so why are any other missoins after that any less dangerous and not require back up.

Someone correct me

chumpit · 10 May 2009 at 02:57

I love how their doing this to try and boost, yet their fitting old technology hoping it'll beat the new european satellites more advanced telescopes which are going up soon.
I think we need another space race might kick start are exploration quest again.

Welshy · 10 May 2009 at 03:09

chumpit said:
I love how their doing this to try and boost, yet their fitting old technology hoping it'll beat the new european satellites more advanced telescopes which are going up soon.
I think we need another space race might kick start are exploration quest again.

My grammar nazi alerts are going crazy after reading your post :mad:

I might actually tune in to watch this one, never really bothered in the past.

Werewolf · 10 May 2009 at 03:16

ChrisJSY said:
If Im reading this right, this is the last time they will have two shuttles on at once, one back up in case things go wrong.

But this isn't the last shuttle mission, so why are any other missoins after that any less dangerous and not require back up.

Someone correct me

I suspect this is the last planned mission with as many people on the crew, hence they are being a bit more cautious and having a standby craft ready to go.

Azagoth · 10 May 2009 at 03:19

Which one's 'Freedom' and which one's 'Independence'?

lord filbuster · 10 May 2009 at 03:24

Werewolf said:
I suspect this is the last planned mission with as many people on the crew, hence they are being a bit more cautious and having a standby craft ready to go.

Apparently they can't dock at the ISS on this mission if things go wrong, so it's nice to see they have actually got an alternative plan for emergencies.
Does anyone know if they stream the launch in HD?

Cosimo · 10 May 2009 at 11:21

Berserker · 10 May 2009 at 13:48

OK, here's an explanation as to why there are two shuttles on pads this time, but not any other time (my own words).

In a typical mission (which, post-Columbia, means one that goes to the ISS), in the event that a shuttle is damaged such that it can make it to the ISS, but cannot land, the crew recovery plan involves transferring as much supplies (fuel, air, food, water, clothing etc.) from the damaged shuttle to the ISS and then closing the hatches with all crew onboard the ISS. Special cables and software is installed on the shuttle side to allow NASA controllers to attempt a remote-controlled landing (or, if that is not possible, a safe de-orbit). NASA then prepare a recovery mission using a second shuttle to rescue the crew from the ISS. The combined shuttle+ISS can (by rationing) maintain a crew of ten (or thirteen) for approximately 45 days, which is sufficient to prepare and launch a CSCS rescue shuttle. See also Wikipedia:STS-3xx

With Hubble, no such 'safe haven' option exists. Due to fuel contraints the ISS is out of range of the shuttle, and the crew must manage on shuttle resources alone (which, for obvious reasons, are significantly less than those available onboard ISS). For this reason, there is no time to prepare a second shuttle and it must be ready to go. This is now even more important given the debris problems of recent times. See also Wikipedia:STS-400

Of course, pre-Columbia, none of this would have happened, but now NASA appreciates just how fragile the shuttle wings are, they have to take such precautions to avoid another crew loss. In any event, if the shuttle doesn't make it into a sustainable orbit, no rescue is possible.

PS - my first post was incorrect. This will be the only non-ISS mission in the manifest. The additional mission being planned is another mission to deliver scientific hardware to ISS.

Kevin Clark · 10 May 2009 at 13:51

This launch is also on Discovery channel from 6.30 monday evening

apeZ · 10 May 2009 at 14:00

Ooh, I look forward to watching this. Thanks for the heads up.

KatanaDV20 · 10 May 2009 at 15:10

Dude thanks a lot for the reminder I had forgotten about this!

We tend to forget the sheer magnitude of whats happening here. Just 105 years after the Wright Brothers first flight here we have a vehicle that takes off, orbits the PLANET, can hook up with an orbiting station and is now gonna fix an orbiting telescope. And then the thing lands back on earth glider-style.

Think about it - this stuff was science fiction to our parents.

All the best to the crew have a safe flight

Mik3 · 10 May 2009 at 16:57

Berserker said:
OK, here's an explanation as to why there are two shuttles on pads this time, but not any other time (my own words).

In a typical mission (which, post-Columbia, means one that goes to the ISS), in the event that a shuttle is damaged such that it can make it to the ISS, but cannot land, the crew recovery plan involves transferring as much supplies (fuel, air, food, water, clothing etc.) from the damaged shuttle to the ISS and then closing the hatches with all crew onboard the ISS. Special cables and software is installed on the shuttle side to allow NASA controllers to attempt a remote-controlled landing (or, if that is not possible, a safe de-orbit). NASA then prepare a recovery mission using a second shuttle to rescue the crew from the ISS. The combined shuttle+ISS can (by rationing) maintain a crew of ten (or thirteen) for approximately 45 days, which is sufficient to prepare and launch a CSCS rescue shuttle. See also Wikipedia:STS-3xx

With Hubble, no such 'safe haven' option exists. Due to fuel contraints the ISS is out of range of the shuttle, and the crew must manage on shuttle resources alone (which, for obvious reasons, are significantly less than those available onboard ISS). For this reason, there is no time to prepare a second shuttle and it must be ready to go. This is now even more important given the debris problems of recent times. See also Wikipedia:STS-400

Of course, pre-Columbia, none of this would have happened, but now NASA appreciates just how fragile the shuttle wings are, they have to take such precautions to avoid another crew loss. In any event, if the shuttle doesn't make it into a sustainable orbit, no rescue is possible.

PS - my first post was incorrect. This will be the only non-ISS mission in the manifest. The additional mission being planned is another mission to deliver scientific hardware to ISS.

Informative post, many thanks.

SourChipmunk · 10 May 2009 at 17:04

Going through that interactive NASA website it appears they have a LOT of work to do on this mission, some of it will be pretty tricky. I wonder how many simulation hours they have gone through for this. Probably about as many as I spend on these forums.

iKettles · 10 May 2009 at 17:09

KatanaDV20 said:
Dude thanks a lot for the reminder I had forgotten about this!

We tend to forget the sheer magnitude of whats happening here. Just 105 years after the Wright Brothers first flight here we have a vehicle that takes off, orbits the PLANET, can hook up with an orbiting station and is now gonna fix an orbiting telescope. And then the thing lands back on earth glider-style.

Think about it - this stuff was science fiction to our parents.

All the best to the crew have a safe flight

The first human space flight was in 1961. How is this really science fiction to our parents when it occurred fairly early in their lifetime?