NASA Managers Set Target Launch Date for Atlantis

After thoroughly reviewing the potential to move up space shuttle Atlantis’ and Endeavour’s upcoming launch dates by a few days, shuttle program managers decided Thursday to stay with original target launch dates.

Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope remains targeted for Oct. 8 at 1:34 a.m. EDT. Endeavour’s STS-126 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for Nov. 10 at 9:31 p.m. EST.

Undergoing preparations for STS-125 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis will be moved from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building later this week. Workers will connect the shuttle with an external tank and pair of solid rocket boosters already stacked inside the VAB.

Astronauts Michael Massimino and Michael Good are practicing for the second spacewalk of STS-125. Like other spacewalkers, the two are rehearsing procedures inside a gigantic swimming pool at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The pool is part of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and is large enough to hold full-size replicas of the Hubble Space Telescope for the astronauts to practice with.