Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
RELEASE: 07-135
NASA UPDATES SHUTTLE TARGET LAUNCH DATE FOR HUBBLE MISSION
HOUSTON - NASA managers officially are targeting Sept. 10, 2008, for
the launch of the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to
the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, Atlantis' seven
astronauts will repair and improve the observatory's capabilities
through 2013.
Mission planners have been working since last fall, when the flight
was announced, to determine the best time in the shuttle manifest to
support the needs of Hubble while minimizing the impact to
International Space Station assembly. NASA also will support a
"launch on need" flight during the Hubble mission. In the unlikely
event a rescue flight becomes necessary, shuttle Endeavour currently
is planned to lift off from Launch Pad 39-B at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, Fla. However, managers constantly are evaluating the manifest
to determine the best mission options.
Shuttle missions beyond the Hubble flight still are being assessed.
Shuttle and station program officials will continue to consider
options for the remainder of the shuttle flights to complete
construction of the space station by 2010, when the fleet will be
retired. Those target launch dates are subject to change. The
complete shuttle launch manifest is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html
The Hubble Space Telescope is an international cooperative project
between NASA and the European Space Agency. For more information
about Hubble, visit:
-end-
To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov
To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov
No comments:
Post a Comment