Atlantis blasts off on last Hubble mission
CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) – Space shuttle Atlantis and a crew of seven thundered away Monday on one last flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, setting off on a daring repair mission that NASA hopes will lift the celebrated observatory to new scientific heights.
Atlantis rose from its seaside pad about 2 p.m. and arced out over the Atlantic, ducking through clouds. The Hubble was directly overhead, 350 miles up.
For the first time ever, another shuttle was on a nearby launch pad, primed for a rescue mission if one is needed because of a debris strike.
After seven months of delay, the astronauts were anxious to get started on the complicated, riskier-than-usual job at Hubble. They were two weeks away from launching last fall when a critical part on the telescope failed and picture-taking ceased. NASA decided it wanted to take up a spare to replace the broken unit, and it took months to get it ready.
“At this point, all I’ve got left to say is, ‘Let’s launch Atlantis,'” commander Scott Altman said just before liftoff.
“Enjoy the ride, pal,” replied launch director Mike Leinbach.
Atlantis should reach the orbiting telescope Wednesday.
This is NASA’s fifth and final trip to Hubble, launched 19 years ago. The stakes, as well as the dangers, are higher since astronauts last visited in 2002. Space has become more littered with junk at Hubble’s altitude because of satellite collisions and breakups, and NASA now knows all too well how much damage can be done at liftoff by a piece of fuel-tank foam. Columbia was brought down by such a blow.
NASA officials said a few pieces of debris came off the external fuel tank during the first few minutes of flight, but nothing appeared to hit Atlantis. Analyses will continue for the next couple of days, and virtually every inch of the ship will be surveyed to be certain. Managers dismissed a pair of minor system problems during launch, one of them a bad engine sensor that triggered alarms aboard Atlantis.
About 30,000 people jammed Kennedy Space Center, all of them gazing skyward as Atlantis blasted off. Scientists hugged one another and posed for pictures.
“We have 60 years of Hubble between us,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s science mission chief, his arm around senior project scientist David Leckrone. “It’s bittersweet … I know this one is the last one. On the other hand, I know that Hubble is going to be better than ever once the astronauts do their thing.”
Leckrone was also wistful: “It’s the end of the era of Hubble servicing.”
Hubble is way overdue for a tuneup.
Two spacewalking teams will replace the 19-year-old Hubble’s batteries and gyroscopes, install two new cameras and take a crack at fixing two broken science instruments, something never before attempted. Those instruments, loaded with bolts and fasteners, were not designed to be tinkered with in space.