Journal #5789
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-11 11:57:54 UTC
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:
(Direct Link, QuickTime movie, 1080i 185 MB)
Go Atlantis!
21 Comments
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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?
They are showing launch replays now.
It's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope will take it's place.
Yeah, like we don't have enough space junk in our solar system.
It could be melted down and recycled!
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
The movie also featured the Very Large Array (VLA):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array
Cool stuff.
Ah, the memories... Chasing down trevelyan in the game, watching the water drainage show it in the movie...
You are luckier than you know.
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!