STS-125 Mission Update – April 29 2009

Busy Week for STS-125 Preparations

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A preparing space shuttle Atlantis for liftoff on the Hubble Servicing Mission installed the spacesuits for the mission’s five spacewalks yesterday. The STS-125 astronauts also flew in from Houston for a payload inspection at the pad. Flow control valves for Atlantis’ main engines are being installed today.

Radiator dents caused by a falling socket in Atlantis’ payload bay during payload installation operations last week were photographed Monday and a crack was observed. During an inspection last week, personnel noted a crease, but did not observe a crack in the dented radiator panel. Managers and engineers are reviewing the data and evaluating the repair options, which may include adding a doubler or stop drilling to prevent the crack from spreading. Any necessary repair is not expected to delay the targeted May 11 launch.

Today the astronauts are back at Johnson Space Center conducting simulation training. Before leaving Florida last night, Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Gregory C. Johnson practiced landing procedures in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.

The official launch date for STS-125 is expected to be announced tomorrow evening at the conclusion of the day-long Flight Readiness Review, which will be held at Kennedy.