Posted on 05/13/2009 12:02:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Space shuttle Atlantis has reached the Hubble telescope, orbiting at a height of 560km (350 miles) over the Earth.
The shuttle crew completed a delicate dance of manoeuvres intended to align Atlantis' robotic arm with the telescope during their approach.
The arm was used to get hold of Hubble and draw it into the shuttle's bay.
At 1912 BST, Nasa controllers confirmed that the telescope had been safely berthed and secured atop a platform in Atlantis' payload bay.
Five spacewalks beginning on Thursday will upgrade and repair the telescope, which has suffered from recent equipment failures.
On the final approach, the shuttle paused at a distance of about 75m, then made an adjustment of 42 degrees to its "yaw", or twist.
Though the crew can control Hubble's movements, the team opted to align the shuttle to the telescope, rather than vice versa.
Astronauts were able to get their first close look at Hubble since March 2002.
At a distance of about 10m from the telescope, astronaut Megan McArthur used the 16m-long robotic arm to grasp the telescope's "grapple fixture".
"Houston, Hubble has arrived on board Atlantis," said Atlantis commander Scott Altman as the robotic arm locked with the fixture at 1814 BST.
The telescope was then drawn delicately to a platform in the shuttle's bay.
Looking out of one of Atlantis's windows, mission specialist John Grunsfeld said: "Hubble, an old man of 19 years. It still looks in fantastic shape."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Meanwhile, most of the earth’s Muslims still sit in the dirt all day long thinking of ways to kill Jews and Americans.
.
In this image taken from NASA video, Hubble (rear) is brought into the shuttle as Atlantis captures the space telescope. Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis grabbed the high-flying Hubble Space Telescope Wednesday, after a successful rendezvous for an ambitious spacewalking overhaul of the lab. (AFP/NASA)
That’s because we all know there are pigs in space. :-}
Double, double, toil and trouble
Thruster burn and we’ve got Hubble...
25 seconds.
A veritable eternity in cyberspace, FRiend. ;-)
So true.
Atlantis astronauts capture Hubble on fix-it mission
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090513/ts_afp/usspaceastronomyhubble_20090513184952
Mark Carreau
HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis grabbed the high-flying Hubble Space Telescope Wednesday, after a successful rendezvous for an ambitious spacewalking overhaul of the lab.
Astronaut Megan McArthur grappled the 13.2-meter long telescope with the shuttle’s robot arm at 1714 GMT, after Atlantis commander Scott Altman maneuvered his spacecraft within 10 meters (35 feet) of the scientific icon.
“Houston, Atlantis, Hubble has arrived on board,” Altman radioed Mission Control.
The two spacecraft sailed 560 kilometers (350 miles) above Australia at the time of the capture. After the grapple, McArthur carefully hoisted the observatory toward a rotating work platform in the rear of the shuttle’s cargo bay.
In this image taken from NASA video, Hubble is captured by the space shuttle's robotic arm as Atlantis begins its mission to service the space telescope. Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis grabbed the high-flying Hubble Space Telescope Wednesday, after a successful rendezvous for an ambitious spacewalking overhaul of the lab. (AFP/NASA)
Maybe we can retrieve the mohamedI Space Station that they launched during their "Golden Age..." Circa 800 Anno Domini.
Ha ha?
The live TV coverage via the KU band has been very sporatic, and I’m curious why that is. The shuttle’s KU band antenna uses the TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellites) system, and at the high altitude (300 miles+) I would think the TDRS coverage would be better.
Perhaps this was just a function of the necessary maneuvers the shuttle had to perform in order to capture the telescope...??
Well I see the problem. The durned thing is pointing at the Earth.
They need me at NASA to figure these things out...
Since they’re out there doing spacewalks, anyway, are they going to check out those nicks on the thermal tiles?
They will sneak a peek during the 5th spacewalk is what I saw last.
We saw a program last night about the Shuttle, and they said because of the Columbia disaster, that the astronauts now have the ability to do some repairs in space. I hope the damage to Atlantis is in the repairable range.
I don't think they will need to do any patch tho.
Today, they slammed in the new camera.. 30 times more powerful than the old one..
The old camera had made 135,000 'observations'.
In this image taken from NASA video, astronaut John Grunsfeld (L) gives a tool to colleague Drew Feustel during the first space walk to repair the Hubble space telescope. The two astronauts from the US space shuttle Atlantis Thursday began the first of five ambitious spacewalks to overhaul the Hubble and extend its working life. (AFP/NASA VIDEO)
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