An adjustment to the launch date of the space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope now appears to be on October 14 at 10:19 p.m. EDT. For further info a news conference is scheduled for Friday, October 3, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to announce an official launch date.
So the ripple effect goes, and with that the delay of Atlantis’ launch from October 10 to October 14, the shuttle Endeavour’s STS-126 supply mission to the International Space Station, also will move from November 12 to November 16 at 7:07 p.m. EST. The target launch date adjustments were made Wednesday during the Space Shuttle Program’s Flight Readiness Review, which concludes Thursday. Image to the right is the STS-125 crew members line up outside the Astrovan after suiting up for the countdown dress rehearsal at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are Mission Specialists Michael Good, Mike Massimino, Andrew Feustel, John Grunsfeld and Megan McArthur, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson and Commander Scott Altman. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Hurricane Ike took its toll and detailed assessments were presented Wednesday by Mission Operations, Flight Crew Operations, and training divisions affected by the closure of the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas as a result of the hurricane. While vehicle processing at Kennedy continues on schedule, the lost week of training and mission preparation due to the impacts of the storm led to the decision to slip the dates.
The October 3 news conference will follow the Flight Readiness Review, a meeting to assess preparations for the STS-125 mission to Hubble, and will begin no earlier than 4 p.m. EDT.
The briefing participants are:
- Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier
- Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs, Science Mission Directorate Mike Luther
- Space Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon
- STS-125 Launch Director Ed Mango
