Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-125
Successful Launch
L - -- : -- : -- : --
May 11, 2009, 6:01 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Instantaneous launch window.
STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.
Constructed in 1985, Atlantis was the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J in October of 1985. Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011.
Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV‑104) is a Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Constructed by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985, Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J from 3 to 7 October 1985. Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011. STS-134 by Endeavour was expected to be the final flight before STS-135 was authorized in October 2010. STS-135 took advantage of the processing for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission that would have been necessary if STS-134's crew became stranded in orbit. Atlantis landed for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011. By the end of its final mission, Atlantis had orbited the Earth a total of 4,848 times, traveling nearly 126,000,000 mi (203,000,000 km) or more than 525 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
Space Shuttle Details
Date of Birth: Oct. 10, 1958
Age: 61
Date of Birth: Aug. 19, 1962
Age: 57
Date of Birth: Oct. 13, 1962
Age: 57
Date of Birth: Aug. 30, 1971
Age: 48
Date of Birth: Aug. 25, 1965
Age: 54
A batch of 57 satellites for Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system. This launch will also ca...
Gaofen is a series of civilian Earth observation satellites developed and launched for the China High-definition Earth Observation System (CHEOS), ...
The Starship SN5 first flight was a 150m 'hop' from SpaceX's South Texas Launch Site in Boca Chica Village.
Ekspress-80 and Ekspress 103 are communications satellites for Russian domestic communication services owned by RSCC (Kosmicheskiya Svyaz). Expres...
Atop this ULA Atlas V rocket will be Perseverance, a car-sized rover which will explore an ancient river delta on Mars. Armed with a suite of six s...
Ziyuan is a series of remote sensing satellites in Sun-synchronous orbit around Earth. Ziyuan 3-02 is a Chinese Earth observation satellite, a high...
The Progress resupply vehicle is an automated, unpiloted version of the Soyuz spacecraft that is used to bring supplies and fuel to the Internation...
Tianwen-1 ("questions to heaven") Mars mission includes a Martian orbiter and a lander/rover duo. This will be China's first mission to Mars. The...
ANASIS-II is South Korea's first dedicated military satellite.
Hope Mars Mission, also known as Al-Amal, is UAE's first interplanetary space probe. It's an orbiter which will study Martian atmosphere and climat...
