STS-125 Up and away!
Looks like another sucessful launch! I am glad things are going underway with hubble. Sad msleeper didn’t get to go to this one. Theres always others!
Today the STS-125 crew woke up around 0501 to prepare for their objective today. They inspected the heat shield with the robotic boom inside the payload bay. Each tile on the shuttle has to be thoroughly inspected for faults. They usually use a procedure called a ‘pitch manoeuvre’, but because the shuttle will not rondavous with the ISS they had to use the mechanical arm. The ‘pitch manoeuvre’ means they roll the shuttle over several hundred feet from the ISS, while the ISS crew takes high quality digital pictures of the underside heat shield of the shuttle. These images are examined by mission control and compared with images taken pre-liftoff.
Later today the STS-125 crew will check out all the necessary tools used for the work on the Hubble.
If you missed the launch, here it is!
Right now on Nasa TV the Russian ship, “Progress” is on its way to the ISS to drop off 2 and a half tons of food and supplies. The ISS crew has been up since 0100 CT, so it is fairly late in the day for them. They will not open the hatch and check for leaks until tomorrow.
If you look in the distance, you can see the second shuttle ready for launch if needed for a rescue operation.
More to come as the mission progresses.
Images from http://nasa.gov/