Journal #5789

Posted 15 years ago2009-05-11 11:57:54 UTC
User posted image
Today is a special day.
Because in about 2 hours (as of this writing), space shuttle Atlantis (Mission STS-125) will launch to be the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Space shuttle Endeavour will be ready to launch in case a rescue mission is needed, as Hubble is at a higher orbit than the ISS, so Atlantis won't be able to dock to it.
Atlantis will carry two new instruments to the HST, a replacement Fine Guidance Sensor, and six new gyroscopes and batteries to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew will also install a new thermal blanket layer to provide improved insulation, and a "soft-capture mechanism" to aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.

Check out photo's of the launch:
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=180

And a HD video of the launch:

User posted image
(Direct Link, QuickTime movie, 1080i 185 MB)

Go Atlantis!

21 Comments

Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 12:33:10 UTC Comment #38262
Damn. I wish I could see that, but judging by the way things are going, I won't have internet access from a computer for about a month. D:
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 13:11:40 UTC Comment #38264
I won't be interested in nasa again until they get a bigger budget. It's shameful how our government starves such a worthy program with scraps like they do. = (

Hey muzz, do you think if nasa had enough funding, we'd have a proper SSTO launch vehicle like the x-33 by now, or do you believe the technology just isn't there yet to make it feasible?
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 13:56:59 UTC Comment #38258
We love you hubble!
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 14:05:49 UTC Comment #38252
Perfect launch!
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 14:13:20 UTC Comment #38259
just watched it launch. shame the feed was lost before the aux fuel tank seperated. would have been a pretty amazing view.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 14:27:47 UTC Comment #38272
Oh hell no, i missed eet? :(
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 14:30:57 UTC Comment #38253
Yeah, you missed "eet".
They are showing launch replays now.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 14:32:09 UTC Comment #38265
Saw it. Wonderful.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 15:21:13 UTC Comment #38261
I heard about the story on the radio. It's great that despite the recession, the mission is still being funded.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 16:17:40 UTC Comment #38269
So the old hubble's coming down soon? :(
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 16:31:07 UTC Comment #38254
No JeffMOD, Hubble will be abandoned in 2014, NASA won't retrieve it, it'll just stay in space.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 16:41:34 UTC Comment #38260
NASA are going to retreive it. you said so yourself. The soft capture system
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 17:01:24 UTC Comment #38255
What im saying is that they're not going to bring the Hubble back home when Hubble stops functioning in 2013/14. NASA is just going to abandon Hubble.
It's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope will take it's place.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 17:36:14 UTC Comment #38270
'NASA is just going to abandon Hubble.'
Yeah, like we don't have enough space junk in our solar system.
It could be melted down and recycled!
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-11 17:48:14 UTC Comment #38256
I was just reading the Hubble article on Wiki, and it said that it will deorbit (splashdown) later.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-12 00:11:23 UTC Comment #38267
The latest I have been hearing, is that NASA will start privatizing some of their operations and projects, so as to lower their operational budget.

Anyway, on a related note, I am currently residing in Puerto Rico. And on Puerto Rico, located in a town called Arecibo, is a very large radio-telescope called "The Arecibo Observatory". In fact, it happens to be the most famous and largest of it's kind in the entire world. It was featured in the James Bond movie "Golden Eye" and the movie "Contact". Well, I am proud to say that I visit the place about 3 to 4 times a year, after all, I live about 15 minutes from it. It is truly awe-inspiring to look at that giant thing in the middle of the tropical forest.

For those of you who never heard of the world's largest radio telescope, here's it's wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_radio_telescope
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-12 11:21:12 UTC Comment #38257
Tito: "Contact" FTW!

The movie also featured the Very Large Array (VLA):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array

Cool stuff.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-12 11:42:33 UTC Comment #38263
You live near that? You lucky bugger. I've always wanted too see it.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-12 19:31:27 UTC Comment #38271
'It was featured in the James Bond movie "GoldenEye"'
Ah, the memories... Chasing down trevelyan in the game, watching the water drainage show it in the movie...
You are luckier than you know.
Commented 15 years ago2009-05-12 23:55:15 UTC Comment #38268
@ JeffMOD: It's funny that you mentioned "Chasing down trevelyan in the game", which I assume you are talking about the legendary N64 game Golden Eye. Even to this day, I still think about that game. Oh, another show that the Arecibo Observatory was featured in, was in an episode of the X-Files, though I can't remember the exact episode number or season.

Just to show you how fanatical some people can get, about a year after the N64 Golden Eye game came out on the market, a group of high school and university students got together, armed themselves with paintball guns and sneaked in to the Arecibo Observatory, and they went ahead and played out a paintball death match game right on the massive radio telescope installation!

It did not take long before they got busted by security and eventually arrested by the Puerto Rican police for trespassing on private property. When one of the students was questioned by police on why they broke in the Arecibo Observatory, he replied back: "We were duplicating the last level of the Golden Eye game". They were all let go afterwards once the students were billed hefty fines. Now that's what I call true, hard core death match gamers!
Commented 15 years ago2009-06-12 19:03:50 UTC Comment #38266
Why do you care about some old telescope?

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