CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Seven excited
astronauts arrived at NASA's Florida spaceport on Friday as the clocks began
counting down for their mission to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope one last
time.
Veteran shuttle commander Scott
Altman and his crew landed their NASA jets on a runway at the Kennedy Space
Center Friday afternoon about an hour after the clocks started ticking down
toward their planned Monday launch. Liftoff for the long-delayed
Hubble mission is set for 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT) on May 11.
"Hello, Florida!" a jubilant
Altman exclaimed after his crew arrived. "It's great to be here at last!"
Atlantis' 11-day
mission to Hubble is NASA's fifth and final mission to upgrade the
19-year-old Hubble. But the complicated flight has been delayed since last
year, when a vital part failed on the telescope.
Altman and his crew plan to fly an
ambitious mission that includes five
back-to-back spacewalks to extend Hubble's life through at least 2014. It
has been seven years since NASA last sent astronauts to overhaul the space
telescope. The Atlantis crew plans to repair two ailing instruments, install
two brand new ones and perform a host of other
vital maintenance work.
The astronauts said their road to
the launch pad has been a long one after more than two years of intense
training and delays.
"To say it feels sweet is an
understatement," said Atlantis pilot Gregory C. Johnson, who will make his
first spaceflight on the mission.
NASA expects an 80 percent chance
good weather for the planned Monday afternoon shuttle launch, but rain at a
backup landing site in Spain could thwart liftoff. The emergency landing strip
will be the only one available for Atlantis when it launches due east toward
Hubble from its seaside pad, mission managers said.
Atlantis has three consecutive days
to attempt a launch before NASA would have stand down until May 22 due to a
previously scheduled military operation at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station. The space agency has also prepared a the space shuttle Endeavour on a
second launch pad to serve
as a rescue ship for the Atlantis astronauts in
case their ship suffers serious damage during the flight.
With just a few days remaining
before launch, Altman and his crew beamed smiles to each other and television
cameras gathered for their spaceport arrival today.
"The only thing I can say is, we are
ready," Altman said, as he pumped his fist in the air. "Let's launch Atlantis!"
SPACE.com is providing continuous
coverage of NASA's last mission to the Hubble Space Telescope with senior
editor Tariq Malik at Cape Canaveral and reporter Clara Moskowitz in New York. Click here for mission
updates and SPACE.com's live NASA TV video feed.
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