WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

STS-125 crew members eagerly stride from the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to make the trip to Launch Pad 39A for liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-125 mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. On the left, front to back, are Pilot Gregory C. Johnson and Mission Specialists John Grunsfeld and Michael Good. On the right, front to back, are Commander Scott Altman and Mission Specialists Megan McArthur, Andrew Feustel and Mike Massimino. Atlantis' 11-day flight will include five spacewalks to refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014. The payload includes a Wide Field Camera 3, fine guidance sensor and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Launch of Atlantis is scheduled for 2:01 p.m. May 11 EDT.