THE HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT BLOG: From the Space Shuttle to Beyond: May 2009

Monday, May 18, 2009

A day before docking with the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, space shuttle ATLANTIS is seen crossing the Sun on May 12, 2009.

NASA / Thierry Legault

FOUR 'WALKS DOWN, ONE MORE TO GO... And by 'walk, I mean extravehicular activity. Nothing nerdy like the term 'spacewalk' or something...

Whatever, I'm justing coming up with an excuse to post these photos.

The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE before it is docked with space shuttle ATLANTIS on May 13, 2009.

The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE before it is docked with space shuttle ATLANTIS on May 13, 2009.

The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE after it is docked with space shuttle ATLANTIS on May 13, 2009.

Astronauts work on the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE during the first spacewalk of STS-125 on May 14, 2009.

All Hubble images courtesy of NASA

Monday, May 11, 2009

HUBBLE-Bound... At 11:01 AM, Pacific Time today, space shuttle Atlantis launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to start an 11-day mission (STS-125) to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Godspeed Atlantis... Here’s hoping this voyage goes completely well...and that space shuttle Endeavour will find herself re-located to Launch Pad 39A a few weeks from now (for STS-127), instead of having to launch from Pad 39B on a rescue flight if the worse, God forbid, happens to Atlantis. And obviously, I’m looking forward to seeing some kick-ass imagery by Hubble once it becomes better than ever following the end of Atlantis' mission. That is all.

With sister ship ENDEAVOUR and Pad 39B in the foreground, space shuttle ATLANTIS is launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 11, 2009.

With sister ship ENDEAVOUR and Pad 39B in the foreground, space shuttle ATLANTIS is launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 11, 2009.

Canon / Scott Andrews