NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mission STS-125

Orbiter: Atlantis
Mission: STS-125
Primary Payload: Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4
Target Launch Date: Oct. 14, 2008
Launch Time: 10:19 p.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39A
Mission Duration: 11 days
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center
Inclination/Altitude: 28.5 degrees/320 nautical miles

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Atlantis Gets New Target Launch Date; Crew Trains in Houston

The target launch date for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope has been reset to Oct. 14 at 10:19 p.m. EDT. A news conference is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 3, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to announce an official launch date. Detailed assessments were presented Wednesday by Mission Operations, Flight Crew Operations, and training divisions affected by the closure of the NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, as a result of Hurricane Ike. While vehicle processing at Kennedy continues on schedule, the lost week of training and mission preparation due to the impacts of the storm led to the decision to slip the date.

The seven-member STS-125 crew finished three days of prelaunch exercises at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday before returning to Houston to continue training for their mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.


Image above: With space shuttle Atlantis in the background, the STS-125 astronauts are (from left) Mission Specialists John Grunsfeld and Michael Good, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, Commander Scott Altman, Mission Specialists Mike Massimino, Andrew Feustel and Megan McArthur. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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