Hubble Captured by Space Shuttle Crew

By Nancy Atkinson - May 13, 2009 at 10:50 AM UTC | Missions
grapple-of-hubble.jpg

[/caption] The Hubble Space Telescope is now safely in the arms of space shuttle Atlantis. "Houston," a jubilant shuttle commander Scott Altman called down, "Hubble has arrived on Atlantis!" "Everybody is very excited up here, I can tell you," said Hubble fixit man John Grunsfeld. "We're looking at an amazing sight right now. Hubble as an old man of 19 years still looks in fantastic shape." However, there were a few tense moments as additional commands were required to get Hubble back in communication with the ground. Communication was re-established shortly before the shuttle was to begin a special maneuver to re-align the telescope's antenna, much to the relief of everyone on the ground and in space.

UPDATE 2:15 EDT

Hubble is now securely attached to the servicing platform in Atlantis' payload bay.

The grapple of Hubble occurred at 1:14 EDT, 350 statute miles over western Australia as both spacecraft orbited in tandem at 5 miles per second. With Hubble's mass of 11,000 kg.

[caption id="attachment_30784" align="aligncenter" width="314" caption="Screenshot of first view of Hubble from Atlantis on NASA TV. "]

[/caption] Atlantis approached Hubble from below, and when the shuttle was 700 feet away, Altman took over manual control of the shuttle, with a 42 degree yaw maneuver to align the two spacecraft. Altman then guided the ship up to within 35 feet of the observatory. Megan McArthur, operating Atlantis' 50-foot- Remote Manipulator System, or robot arm, grappled the telescope. McArthur will then move the arm to mount Hubble on a service platform in the shuttle's cargo bay. [caption id="attachment_30787" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="The view from the shuttle's RMS camera of the grapple fixture on Hubble. NASA TV."]

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The actual repair work will begin tomorrow (May 14) when the STS-125 crew will conduct the first of five spacewalks. [caption id="attachment_30789" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="Scratches visible on Atlantis, found during the inspection. Credit: NASA"]

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Also, later on Wednesday, a final determination will be made on damage to the shuttle, seen in the picture above, Early assessment from engineers was that the damage is not a problem. But further examination of results from the thermal protection system inspection will be done to determine of the scratches or scrapes will need to be fixed on orbit before the shuttle returns home.

Additionally, for more info on the Hubble Telescope, check out Phil Plait's new article,

"Ten Things You Don't Know About Hubble."

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com