Launch Pad Repair Should Be Completed Prior to the October 8 Launch to the Hubble Space Telescope

The Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-125 flight set for Wednesday, October 8 to repair the the 18-year-old Hubble Space Telescope [HST] and the launch will not be delayed by the recent damage to the launch pad resulting from the May 31 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery.

The launch of Discovery ripped some 5,300 heat-resistant bricks from their concrete moorings at the 1960s-era pad. Chunks of fireproof brick and concrete were thrown about 1,500 feet from the 40-year-old launch complex.

The Atlantis flight will be the last mission to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope before NASA turns its full attention to completing the space station by 2010 and retiring its three-orbiter fleet.

The upcoming 12-day mission involving the Hubble Space Telescope is needed in order to bring a set of equipments needed for a better functioning of the telescope. The shuttle’s cargo bay will be stacked with a Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC), an Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier (ORUC), a Flight Support System (FSS) and a Multi-use Logistic Equipment Carrier (MULE). The equipment is expected to highly benefit the telescope, as the SLIC will provide a new camera and two new batteries, the ORUC will install the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the MULE will provide several spare parts for the telescope.

The mission’s schedule plans five space walks, also known as extravehicular activities or EVAs, which will be divided between two formed teams on the shuttle and will each last for approximately seven hours. The spacewalks will help upgrade the telescope’s capacities and when that stage will be completed.