NASA Thursday adjusted the target launch dates for two space shuttle missions in 2008. Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope is now targeted for Oct. 8, and Endeavour's STS-126 supply mission to the International Space Station has moved from Oct. 16 to Nov. 10.
The final servicing mission to Hubble was moved from Aug. 28 due to a delay in deliveries of components, including the external fuel tanks, and the need to prepare Endeavour for a possible rescue mission approximately two weeks after STS-125 launches.
Flights beyond STS-126 will be assessed and coordinated with NASA's international partners at a later date. Both shuttle and station program officials will continue to consider options for the remainder of the shuttle flights, with those target launch dates being subject to change.
The Shuttle Program also has decided that Atlantis will be assigned two additional flights after the Hubble mission in order to more efficiently fly the remaining shuttle flights using the three orbiters in sequence.
Source: NASA
Related stories:
House OKs NASA buying Soyuz
NASA's top achievement in Congress this year boils down to a single sentence - one line in a huge spending bill that would allow NASA to circumvent an arms-control law and purchase Russian-made Soyuz spacecraft.
NASA chief may consider extending life of shuttle program
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said Thursday that he's examining what it would take to keep the space shuttle flying for five years past its 2010 retirement date.
NASA sets date for final shuttle mission in 2010
Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010.
Shuttle Discovery Glides Home After Successful Mission
With Commander Mark Kelly and Pilot Ken Ham at the controls, space shuttle Discovery descended to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The STS-124 crew concluded their successful assembly mission to the International Space Station when the shuttle landed at 11:15 a.m. EDT.
Shuttle Discovery Launches With Japanese Laboratory
Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 5:02 p.m. EDT Saturday to deliver and install a Japanese laboratory on the International Space Station. The mission, designated STS-124, is the second of three flights to launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Discovery is carrying Kibo's tour bus-sized Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, which will be the station's largest module. The shuttle astronauts will work with the three-member station crew and ground teams around the world to install the JPM and Kibo's robotic arm system.
Where man boldly goes, bacteria follow -- Are we contaminating space?
Life in outer space is an absolute certainty, and it is likely to be more familiar than we might think, according to an article in the May issue of
Microbiology Today. Ever since the start of the space race we have sent more than just satellites and astronauts into space: spacecraft are not routinely decontaminated and are teeming with microbial life.
Discovery Ready for Final Assembly and Checkout
Space shuttle Discovery rolled into the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, where the shuttle's external tank and two solid rocket boosters await. Discovery was then lifted to vertical inside the building's 50-story-tall transfer aisle, lowered into a high bay and joined with the tank and boosters atop the mobile launcher platform.
Hope Takes Flight on Shuttle Discovery
The cargo aboard the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124 already has traveled halfway around Earth, more than 10,000 miles over land and sea. It’s now ready for the culmination of its 23-year journey to the International Space Station. Hope will take flight on Discovery. Or rather, the centerpiece of Kibo, a laboratory complex named for the Japanese word for hope, will take flight.