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STS-125: The mission
A detailed step-by-step preview of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to extend the life and vision of the Hubble Space Telescope.
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STS-125: The EVAs
The lead spacewalk officer provides indepth explanations of the five EVAs to service Hubble during Atlantis' flight.
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STS-125: The crew
The seven shuttle Atlantis astronauts hold a press conference one month before their planned launch to Hubble.
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STS-125: NASA leaders
The leaders of NASA's Space Operations and Science directorates give their insights into the upcoming shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
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STS-125: Shuttle boss
The head of NASA's space shuttle program discusses the risks and plans for Atlantis' trek to Hubble.
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The Hubble program
An overview of the Hubble Space Telescope program and the planning that has gone into the final servicing mission.
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Hubble's future science
The new instruments to be installed into Hubble and the future science objectives for the observatory are previewed.
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Meet the Hubble crew
Meet the crew launching on Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope and learn how each became an astronaut in this special biography movie.
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NASA officially moves up Atlantis launch to May 11
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: April 24, 2009
Launch of the shuttle Atlantis on a mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope was moved up one day and retargeted for May 11 after engineers and managers concluded Friday that processing could be accelerated without impacting required work. Senior managers will hold an executive-level flight readiness review next Thursday to discuss final clearance for launch.
Atlantis is slated to launch May 11. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now
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By moving launch up one day, to 2:01:49 p.m. on May 11, NASA will get three attempts in a row to get Atlantis off the ground before standing down to make way for a military operation on the Air Force Eastern Range, the agency that provides telemetry and tracking support for all rockets launched from Florida.
If the weather or some other problem keeps Atlantis on the ground past May 13, launch will be delayed to May 22 at the earliest because of the range conflict and time needed to recharge the new batteries being delivered to Hubble aboard the shuttle.
A NASA spokesman said the only downside to moving launch up one day was a minor reduction in battery charging time, from 209 hours to 185. But that is still well above the 156-hour requirement for the new batteries and Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch agreed to the request to move launch up one day.
"Everybody signed off on it," said a NASA spokesman.
As reported earlier this week, NASA is hoping to get Atlantis off as soon as possible to avoid any problems for the next shuttle mission, a space station assembly flight by shuttle Endeavour. Endeavour currently is mounted atop launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, on stand by for launch on an emergency rescue mission if the Atlantis astronauts run into any problems that might prevent a safe re-entry.
Assuming a rescue flight is not needed, Endeavour will be moved to pad 39A and prepared for launch June 13 on the station assembly flight. But NASA will only have one week to get Endeavour off the ground. A so-called "beta angle cutout" will kick in June 21, preventing any shuttle visits to the station until after July 11 because of temperature constraints related to the angle between the sun and the plane of the space station's orbit.
Moving up the Atlantis launch date by one day would buy one more day of insurance to get the Hubble mission off ahead of the military range operation and at the same time, provide more cushion for the June mission. If the Atlantis flight slips behind the range operation, Endeavour's flight would face a delay to mid July.
Additional coverage for subscribers:
 VIDEO:
REFRESHER BRIEFING: THE STS-125 MISSION PLAY
VIDEO:
REFRESHER BRIEFING: HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PLAY
VIDEO:
REFRESHER BRIEFING: THE SEVEN ASTRONAUTS PLAY
VIDEO:
BIOGRAPHY MOVIE OF ATLANTIS' CREW PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER SCOTT ALTMAN PLAY | '09 UPDATE
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INTERVIEW WITH PILOT GREG JOHNSON PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS1 MIKE GOOD PLAY
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INTERVIEW WITH MS2 MEGAN MCARTHUR PLAY
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW WITH MS3 JOHN GRUNSFELD PLAY | '09 UPDATE
VIDEO:
INTERVIEW WITH MS4 MIKE MASSIMINO PLAY | '09 UPDATE
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INTERVIEW WITH MS5 DREW FEUSTEL PLAY | '09 UPDATE
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SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY | HI-DEF
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THE SUN RISES ON ATLANTIS DURING ROLLOUT PLAY | HI-DEF
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ATLANTIS EMERGES FROM ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY | HI-DEF
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ORBITER VERTICAL FOR MATING TO FUEL TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
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ATLANTIS MOVES BACK TO ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY | HI-DEF
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ATLANTIS LEAVES LAUNCH PAD 39A IN OCT. PLAY
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TIMELAPSE OF THE ROLLBACK GETTING UNDERWAY PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS REHEARSE QUICK SHUTTLE EXIT PLAY
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CREW BOARDS ATLANTIS FOR MOCK COUNTDOWN PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS DON SUITS FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
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CREW'S TRAINING ON ESCAPE BASKETS AND BUNKER PLAY
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ASTRONAUTS CHAT WITH PRESS AT LAUNCH PAD PLAY
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CREW TEST DRIVES EMERGENCY PAD ESCAPE VEHICLE PLAY
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COMMANDER AND PILOT PRACTICE LANDING APPROACHES PLAY
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CREW ARRIVES AT CAPE FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
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COMMENTS FROM COMMANDER AFTER ARRIVING PLAY
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AERIAL VIEWS OF ATLANTIS AND ENDEAVOUR PLAY | HI-DEF
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE STS-125 MISSION PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE FIVE SPACEWALKS PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: THE SEVEN ASTRONAUTS PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: NASA LEADERSHIP PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: SHUTTLE PROGRAM BOSS PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: HUBBLE OVERVIEW PLAY
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PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING: HUBBLE SCIENCE PLAY
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SHUTTLE ARRIVES ATOP PAD 39A PLAY
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ATLANTIS EMERGES FROM VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY
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TIME-LAPSE MOVIE OF ATLANTIS' ROLLOUT TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY
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ATLANTIS ROLLS FROM HANGAR TO VAB PLAY
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ATLANTIS LIFTED INTO PLACE FOR ATTACHMENT PLAY
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Final Shuttle Mission Patch
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 The crew emblem for the final space shuttle mission is now available in our store. Get this piece of history!
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STS-134 Patch
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 The final planned flight of space shuttle Endeavour is symbolized in the official embroidered crew patch for STS-134. Available in our store!
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Ares 1-X Patch
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Apollo Collage
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Project Orion
 The Orion crew exploration vehicle is NASA's first new human spacecraft developed since the space shuttle a quarter-century earlier. The capsule is one of the key elements of returning astronauts to the Moon.
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Fallen Heroes Patch Collection
 The official patches from Apollo 1, the shuttle Challenger and Columbia crews are available in the store.
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