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Space Shuttle Atlantis Crew Finds Damage before Hubble Repair

by Jordan Yerman | May 12, 2009 at 08:40 am

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The space shuttle Atlantis crew are carrying out a damage inspection before moving on to the mission objective: repairing the Hubble Telescope. The crew found minor damage to the craft, which will have to be examined further in order to determine the extent of repairs needed. (Personally, I'd be pretty anal about that sort of thing)

As the team works, they'll be subject to the swift, silent threat of space junk, which hurtles around the planet in orbit. Should something go wrong, a second shuttle, the Endeavor, will have to swoop in for the rescue, since the Atlantis crew won't be positioned to seek shelter aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

That's probably why astronaut Mike Massimino hasn't been tweeting lately- I bet this sort of work requires one's undivided attention.

See additional NowPublic coverage on this story: NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch: STS-125 Liftoff Success

If successful, the mission could extend Hubble's lifetime beyond 2014.

During their first full day in orbit, Atlantis' crew used a laser-tipped boom to look for damage to the orbiter during a survey that was expected to take several hours.

Initial photos taken during the launch indicated no problems, but the analysis is ongoing.

Want to watch? Okay.

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SamirJ

at 09:17 on May 12th, 2009

Wish them good luck!

albertacowpoke

at 13:14 on May 12th, 2009

They have an extension to Candarm now that allow them to check out the whole space ship. They have a shuttle stand on stand by if required, as they can not change orbit to get to the international space station. Yes, wish them luck indeed.