NASAMissionSummary

NationalAeronauticsand SpaceAdministration Washington,D.C.20546 (202)3581600

STS125MISSIONSUMMARY

OCTOBER2008

SPACESHUTTLEATLANTIS(STS125)

SpaceshuttleAtlantisupcoming11daymissionisthefinalshuttleflighttoNASAs HubbleSpaceTelescope.Fivespacewalksareplannedtoinstallnewinstrumentsand thermalblankets,repairtwoexistinginstruments,refurbishsubsystemsandreplace gyroscopesandbatteries.Theresultwillbesixworking,complementarysciencein strumentswithcapabilitiesbeyondwhatisnowavailable,andanextendedoperational lifespanthroughatleast2013.Thesevenmembercrewwillenhancetheobservatory andensurecuttingedgescience.Itputsinplaceadvancedtechnologythatimproves thediscoverypowerofHubbleby10to70times.

CREW
ScottAltman Commander(RetiredCapt.,U.S.Navy) Veteranofthreespaceflights Age:49,Hometown:Pekin,Ill. Marriedwiththreechildren CommandedthelastHubbleservicingmission CompletedtwodeploymentsflyingtheF14A MichaelGood MissionSpecialist1(Col.,U.S.AirForce) Firstspaceflight Age:45,Hometown:BroadviewHeights,Ohio Marriedwiththreechildren Logged2100+hoursin30differentaircraft Enjoysrunning,golfandfamilyactivities JohnGrunsfeld MissionSpecialist3 Veteranoffourspaceflights Ph.D.,physics,UniversityofChicago,1988 MakinghisthirdflighttoHubble FivepreviousspacewalksonHubble Age:49,Born:Chicago;married,twochildren AndrewFeustel(FOYStuhl) MissionSpecialist5 Firstspaceflight Age:43,Hometown:LakeOrion,Mich. Ph.D.geologicalsciences,1995 Designedland,marineandseismicprograms Married;enjoysautorestorationandguitar GregoryC.Johnson Pilot(RetiredCapt.,U.S.Navy) Firstspaceflight Age:54,Born:Seattle,Wash. Hastwogrownchildren Logged9000+hoursin50differentaircraft Enjoysrunning,cyclingandswimming MeganMcArthur MissionSpecialist2 Firstspaceflight Ph.D.Oceanography,UCSanDiego,2002 Age:37,Homestate:California Waschiefscientistatanoceanographyinstitute Enjoysscubadiving,backpackingandcooking MikeMassimino(massaMEEno) MissionSpecialist4 Onespaceflight,STS109toHubble TwopreviousspacewalksonHubble Ph.D.,mechanicalengineering,MIT,1992 Born:1962,Hometown:FranklinSquare,N.Y. Marriedwithtwochildren HubbleSpaceTelescope LaunchedtospaceonSTS31inApril1990 Madeits100,000thorbitonAug.11 Is43.5feetlong Hasamaximumdiameterof14ft Weighs24,500lbs Generatesenoughdatatofill18DVDsaweek

ThisSTS125crewpatchshowsHubble.Theoverallstructureandcomposition oftheuniverseisshowninblueandfilledwithplanets,starsandgalaxies.The blackbackgroundisindicativeofthemysteriesofdarkenergyanddarkmatter. Theredborderofthepatchrepresentstheredshiftedglowoftheearlyuniverse. SoaringbythetelescopeistheshuttlethatinitiallydeployedHubbleandhasen abledastronautstocontinuallyupgradethetelescope,significantlycontributing totheexpansionofhumanknowledge.

SPACEWALKSEachwilllastapproximately6.5to7hours.
(GrunsfeldwillbeExtravehicular(EV)1wearingthespacesuitwithsolidredstripes;FeustelwillbeEV2wearing
thesuitwithnomarkings;MassiminowillbeEV3wearingbrokenhorizontalstripes;GoodwillbeEV4wearingthe
suitwithbarberpoleredstripes.)
Onflightday4,GrunsfeldandFeustelwillreplaceawidefieldcamera.Theyalsowillswapoutthreebatteries andinstallamechanismforaspacecrafttocapturefordeorbitattheendofthetelescopeslife. Onflightday5,MassiminoandGoodwillchangeoutthreeboxes,eachcontainingtwoofthetelescopessix gyroscopes,andthreebatteries. Onflightday6,GrunsfeldandFeustelwillinstalltheCosmicOriginsSpectrograph,adevicethatwillperform spectroscopy,thescienceofbreakinguplightintoitsindividualcomponents.Theastronautsalsowillconduct thefirstpartoftherepairstotheAdvancedCameraforSurveys,whichhasexperiencedpowerfailures,causing twoofthetelescopesthreeobservingchannelstostopoperating. Onflightday7,MassiminoandGoodwillrepairandupgradetheSpaceTelescopeImagingSpectrograph, whichstoppedworkingin2004duetopowerfailures,andreplacestainlesssteelblanketsonHubblesexterior toprovideadditionalthermalprotectionforsomeequipmentbays,replacingtheexistingmultilayerinsulation thathasdegradedovertime. Onflightday8,GrunsfeldandFeustelwillreplaceasensorneededforpointingthetelescopeandcompletethe repairstotheAdvancedCameraforSurveys.

HubbleafteritslastservicingmissioninMarch2002

Hubbleimages

Hubblecosmiccollection

FACTS&FIGURES STS125isthe124thspaceshuttleflight,thefifthservingflighttothetelescope,the30thflightforAtlantisand thefourthflightin2008. TheweightofthepayloadistheheaviestevercarriedaboardtheshuttleonaHubbleservicingmission. EachHubbleorbittakes96minutes.Itsspeedisabout5milespersecond. Duringatypicalorbit,Hubbleusesthesameenergyas28100wattlightbulbs. AmongHubble'sgreatestdiscoveries:determiningtheageoftheuniverse(13.7billionyears);findingthatvirtu allyallmajorgalaxieshaveasupermassiveblackholeattheircenter;discoveringthattheprocessofplanetary formationisrelativelycommonthroughouttheuniverse;detectingfirsteverorganicmoleculeintheatmosphere ofaplanetorbitinganotherstar;andprovidingevidencethatthespeedatwhichtheuniverseisexpandingis acceleratingcausedbyanunknownforcethatmakesupmorethan90percentoftheuniverse. ThefarthestobjectsHubblehasseenaregalaxiesmorethan12billionlightyearsaway. Hubblehassixnickelhydrogen(NiH)batterieswithastoragecapacityequalto20carbatteries. Theprimarymirrorhasadiameterof94.5inchesandweighs1,825lbs. Hubblecan'tobservethesunorMercury,whichistooclosetothesun. PointingHubbleandlockingontodistantcelestialobjectsisequivalenttoholdingalaserlightsteadyonadime thatis200milesaway. Hubblesfifthservicingmissionwasoriginallyplannedfor2004,butwaspostponedafterthespaceshuttleCo lumbiaaccidentin2003andthencanceledinlightofagencysafetyconcerns.Followingthesuccessfulrecovery oftheSpaceShuttleProgramandareexaminationofrisks,NASAapprovedonelastservicingmission. ShuttleEndeavourisbeingpreparedasabackupvehicleforshuttleAtlantis.EndeavourwillbedesignatedSTS 400ifit'sneededforarescueflight. ThiswillbethefirsttimethattwoshuttlesoccupybothlaunchpadsatthesametimesinceJuly2001. EndeavourwillremainonLaunchPad39BwhileAtlantisisinspace.Oncetheshuttleisclearedforits returntoEarth,EndeavourwillmovetoPad39Aforitsnextflight.