STS-125/HST SM-4 Status Report No. 05 (Forwarded)

STS-125 MCC Status Report #05
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 5 p.m. CDT

Using the space shuttle Atlantis' robotic arm, Mission Specialist Megan
McArthur grappled the Hubble Space Telescope at 12:14 p.m. CDT Wednesday as
she and her crewmates orbited 340 miles above Western Australia.

The successful capture of the space observatory sets the stage for five
spacewalks in as many days to repair and update instruments, extending its
lifespan through 2014. The first spacewalk by Mission Specialists John
Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel is set to begin at 7:16 a.m. Thursday.

STS-125 Commander Scott Altman guided Atlantis to within 50 feet of Hubble
in preparation for the grapple, with help from Pilot Greg Johnson and
Mission Specialist Mike Good. A planned maneuver to put Hubble in the right
orientation for capture was cancelled due to communications problems, so
Altman flew the shuttle into position, which delayed grapple about 20
minutes.

With grapple complete, McArthur maneuvered the telescope onto a Flight
Support System maintenance platform in Atlantis' payload bay. The platform
can rotate 360 degrees and tilt to provide better access for spacewalkers,
and provides power for thermal control while the telescope is being
serviced.

The crew began a visual survey of the telescope at 1:56 p.m. and completed
electrical connections and activation at 1:58 p.m. The telescope's solar
arrays were positioned for servicing by ground command at 4:07 p.m.

Grunsfeld and Feustel conducted a final review of plans for the first
spacewalk with the help of fellow spacewalkers Good and Mike Massimino, and
the rest of the crew. They also checked out all of the tools necessary for
the mission's spacewalks.

Mission managers declared Atlantis' thermal protection tiles safe for
reentry, but continue to examine the imagery from Tuesday's inspection of
the reinforced carbon carbon on the shuttle's nose cap and wing leading
edges.

The STS-125 crew will begin its sleep period at 7:31 p.m. and awaken at 3:31
a.m. Thursday. The next shuttle status report will be issued after crew
wake-up, or earlier, if events warrant.