Hubble Telescope

Hubble image shows stars bursting to life in the chaotic Carina Nebula Photo: NASA
Nasa has unveiled the first deep space photos taken by Hubble since its billion dollar repair mission earlir this year. The work included installing two new cameras, other science instruments and replacing broken parts. The images of galaxies and nebulas are sharper than previous photos taken of the same places by Hubble before the upgrade.
Some of the colorful images have brilliant glows of light that give them halos that to some people can appear heavenly. Earlier this summer, Hubble took pictures of Jupiter when an asteroid or comet hit it. TheTamshee says: "there's life out there Jim---but not as we know it"

Atlantis Returns

The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Sunday, ending their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in sunny California after stormy weather prevented a return to NASA’s Florida home base. Click Here for Nasa Video footage. Mission Control waited as long as possible for the weather to improve before finally giving up and directing commander Scott Altman and his crew to the Mojave Desert.
Atlantis swooped through a clear morning sky and touched down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base. “Welcome home, Atlantis,” Mission Control radioed once the shuttle came to a safe stop. “Congratulations on a very successful mission, giving Hubble a new set of eyes that will continue to expand our knowledge of the universe.” TheTamshee: has been debating the shuttle design with some work colleagues. Here's the facts: The space shuttle system is made up of three main components: •The two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), which provide 80 percent of launch thrust. •The huge rust-colored External Tank (ET), which feeds fuel to three
Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) during launch•The orbiter itself, which serves as the crew's home in space and is equipped to dock with the International Space Station. NASA has made many safety improvements to the shuttle system, including redesigning and refitting the External Tank to reduce the risk of foam and ice hitting the orbiter during liftoff.

Hubble Telescope "Repaired"

Space shuttle astronauts have sent the restored Hubble telescope off on a new voyage of discovery, bidding it farewell on behalf of the planet. Hubble - considered better than new following five days of repairs and upgrades - will never be seen up close by humans again. The Atlantis shuttle mission was Nasa's last service call to the telescope. The shuttle and telescope had just crossed the Atlantic, and were soaring 350 miles above the coast of north-western Africa, when astronaut Megan McArthur used a robot arm to release the snares gripping Hubble. Then the shuttle slowly backed away. "Hubble has been released," reported commander Scott Altman. "It's safely back on its journey of exploration as we begin steps to conclude ours. Looking back on this mission, it's been an incredible journey for us as well." Mission Control radioed congratulations: "It's wonderful to see Hubble, the most famous scientific instrument of all time, newly upgraded and ready for action thanks to you." With Hubble flying on its own again, the seven astronauts looked ahead to Friday's planned landing. But first they had to inspect their ship one last time to make sure it had not suffered any serious damage from space junk. The telescope's unusually high orbit had placed the shuttle and its crew at increased risk and, because of the lack of a refuge, prompted Nasa to keep a rescue ship on stand-by until the end of the 11-day flight.
To improve their safety, the astronauts dropped Atlantis into an egg-shaped orbit that is, much of the time, lower than the telescope's junk-ridden orbit. TheTamshee says: Scotty Altman and his fellow astronauts deserve high praise. To risk their lifes on this tricky space mission, to squench the worlds thirst for cosmic pictures, is indeed honourable. "Safe Oot-Safe In"

Go Atlantis

Lights covering the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39A cast their glow over space shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle waits the arrival of the payload canister with its cargo of Hubble Space Telescope equipment. The payload will be transferred into Atlantis' payload bay for the 11-day STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Telescope.Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett TheTamshee says: technology has no limits, space the final frontier will be conquered " there's life Jim, but not as we know it" The payload canister with the Hubble Space Telescope equipment heads for Launch Pad 39A. In the foreground, a bobcat runs across the road.

Hubble Space Telescope

The payload canister with the Hubble Space Telescope equipment arrives at the base of Launch Pad 39A where space shuttle Atlantis stands.

STS-125: Mission to Service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Veteran astronaut Scott Altman will command the final space shuttle mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day mission's five spacewalks, astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and perform the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014. In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis also will carry a replacement Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removing the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, delaying the servicing mission until the replacement was ready. TheTamshee says: click the title link to read Nasa's history of this powerful orbiting telescope that provides sharper images of heavenly bodies than any other telescopes.

Hubble L-1 Web Cast

Hubble Payload Ready for Atlantis Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:04:38 PM UTC+0100
Early Monday morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the rotating service structure at Launch Pad 39A was moved around space shuttle Atlantis, where payload operations will continue throughout the week. Over the weekend, the payload canister carrying hardware for the mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope was transported to the pad and transferred to the payload changeout room inside the service structure. TheTamshee says: I continue to follow the lead up to launch date on the 12th May, Atlantis is the one on the left launch pad 39A with Endeavour at 39B click here to check out the web cast perview

Atlantis Rolls to Pad

Preparations continue this week for the STS-125 mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, targeted for lift off on 12th May. Today at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astronauts are practicing inside the nearby Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for the first two spacewalks of the mission.

Last week, the astronauts were at Kennedy Space Center in Florida where they had a chance to check out the mission hardware. At Kennedy today, technicians at Launch Pad 39A are conducting a validation test on the Range Safety System as they prepare Atlantis for launch.

Image above: The seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-125 crew portrait. From the left are astronauts Michael J. Massimino, Michael T. Good, both mission specialists; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Scott D. Altman, commander; K. Megan McArthur, John M. Grunsfeld and Andrew J. Feustel, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA TheTamshee says: the Indy kids rocket RB-26-06-2003 can be clearly seen in outer space, the blue one just above commander Scotty Altman's head

Atlantis At Launch Pad

Fresh off the STS-119 mission to power up the space station, NASA is shifting focus to Atlantis' May mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble Servicing Mission Space Shuttle Section TheTamshee says: there has been some interesting "space developements" in the upper stratosphere of Inchgarth with the RB-26-06-2003 making final approach en-route to orbiting the full moon.

Discovery "Blast Off"

Discovery took off as the sun was setting, a spectacular sight for a space agency anxious about the prospects of a successful take off after a hydrogen leak prevented the shuttle from lifting off on Wednesday.
Before that, hydrogen valves kept the shuttle grounded for weeks in February. Launch pad repairs took care of the leak, and the astronauts were able to board their spaceship and lift off.
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"Well, you had a little bit of a wait but that will just make the payoff that much sweeter," the launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts.
Commander Lee Archambault and his crew, which includes two former schoolteachers, should reach the international space station on Tuesday.
"Thanks for the work Mike, we'll see you in a couple weeks. Take care and let's go ahead and fire up the sound of freedom," Commander Archambault said.
The shuttle is delivering one last set of solar wings for the space station and some critical equipment for a relatively new water-recycling system. TheTamshee says: the oldest Indy Kid loves this kind of stuff - she has already supplied the primary school with a copy of her Redshift Astronomy skills CD, but can't quite comprehend why she is not able to see the Shuttle from her bedroom window with her Eco Science telescope -not quite up to Hubble standards