Astronomy Contributing Editor Martin Ratcliffe shares his report of the space shuttle Atlantis STS-125 launch:
In a picture perfect, flawless launch, space shuttle Atlantis is on its way to a rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope. After years of planning, there were no delays, no major technical issues, and no weather problems. Seven astronauts enjoyed the 8.5-minute ride to orbit watched by thousands of spectators and the world's press.
Clouds of water vapor bellowed around the launch complex and Atlantis rose atop a fiery orange flame almost as bright as the Sun. The shuttle rose silently at first. Then, gradually the sound came across the lake to our viewing site, building in intensity until almost deafening shock waves sped toward us, followed by echoes from the buildings behind us.
As Atlantis arched over the Atlantic Ocean to the east of Cape Canaveral, the Sun caused the contrail to cast a shadow on a light cirrus cloud layer. As Atlantis sped away, its three main engines shrank to a single brilliant orange starlike point. It was like observing a red supergiant in daylight if Earth lay close enough to one.
The NASA senior management responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope, including Dr. Ed Weiler and Dr. David Leckrone, watched the launch standing near the countdown clock. The IMAX camera surveyed the crowd 30 seconds before launch and turned to catch the launch for the Hubble 3D movie due for release in 2010.
Atlantis is now safely in orbit, and the chase to Hubble is on. Rendezvous with Hubble is expected to occur
Wednesday morning. Spacewalking astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel plan to perform the first spacewalk Thursday, when they will install new batteries and the Wide Field Camera 3.
During the next day in orbit, astronauts will perform a thorough survey of the shuttle thermal protection system. If there are any areas that require repair, a spacewalk will be required that would replace some of the later spacewalks for Hubble. This unlikely event would occur late enough in the mission that Hubble will have at least a new camera and batteries.
Related blog:
“The STS-125 astronauts' ‘walkout’,” by Martin Ratcliffe, Contributing Editor