KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Two days late but none the worse for the wear, space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth today, landing in California after unstable weather in Florida forced mission control to wave off the first two landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. Directing commander Scott Altman and pilot Greg Johnson to divert to the west coast instead, Atlantis made a picture-perfect landing under sunny skies at Edward Air Force Base to conclude the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
COMPLETE STS-125 MISSION COVERAGE STS-125 ATLANTIS PHOTO GALLERIES READ: HST Servicing Mission 4 Media Guide READ: STS-125 Press Kit READ: STS-125 Fact Sheet VIDEO: STS-125 POSTLANDING PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO: STS-125 MISSION HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO: SCOTT ALTMAN MAKES A STATEMENT AFTER LANDING VIDEO: STS-125 CREW INSPECTS ATLANTIS AFTER LANDING VIDEO: DECORBIT BURN VIDEO: ENTRY FLIGHT CONTROL TEAM REPLAY VIDEO: ATLANTIS LANDS AT EDWARDS AFB VIDEO: LANDING REPLAYS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (150KBPS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: STS-125 MISSION HIGHLIGHTS (1200KBPS) ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: FLIGHT CONTROL ENTRY TEAM REPLAY (1200KBPS) ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: LANDING REPLAYS (1200KBPS) ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 1 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 3 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 4 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 5 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV COVERAGE OF TODAYS LANDING (1200KBPS) - PART 6 Trailing its trademark twin sonic booms, Atlantis crossed the west coast of California high over the southern California city of Los Angeles on the way to Edwards. Dropping through 50,000 feet, Altman took over manual control of the landing as he guided the orbiter to a pinpoint deadstick landing on runway 22. The shuttle's landing brought to a close a mission lasting 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes and 9 seconds over 197 orbits since Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on May 11. "Houston, Atlantis... wheels stop, Edwards two-two," an exuberant Altman radioed mission control as the vehicle rolled to a standstill after touching down at 11:39:05 a.m. EDT, marking a triumphant ending to STS-125. "Welcome home, Atlantis. Congratulations on a VERY successful mission, giving Hubble a new set of eyes that will continue to expand our knowledge of the universe," replied CAPCOM Greg C. Johnson (not Atlantis' pilot) from Houston's mission control. "It was a thrill from start to finish," Altman noted. "We've had a great ride. It took a whole team across the country to pull it off. Our hats are off to you all. Thank you so much." Joining Altman and Johnson on the flight were mission specialists Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, Michael Good and Andrew Feustel. They will fly back to Houston in a couple days and be reunited with family, friends and colleagues at Johnson Space Center. Atlantis crew got an unexpected two-day extension to their flight. A stubborn low pressure system stalled over the Gulf of Mexico and brought record-breaking rain and high winds to Florida. The inclement conditions forced waveoffs of landing opportunities on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base was called up. A second contingency field at White Sands was not called up because it, too, was inundated with rain. Atlantis was nearly diverted to Edwards on Saturday when the forecast for KSC predicted a consistent pattern of rain and storms through the early part of the week. However, entry flight director Norm Knight elected to have the shuttle stay in orbit one extra day in the hope that weather would clear just enough to permit a landing in Florida on Sunday. As Sunday dawned over the Space Coast, it looked like Atlantis just might be able to return to its home port after all. Skies were generally sunny and wind staying within limits. As is typical of Florida weather, looks can be deceiving though. Thirty miles offshore, a line of thunderstorms was building up throughout the morning, threatening to bring a low ceiling and electrified anvil clouds drifting over the space center at landing time. After two KSC waveoffs, Knight ordered Atlantis to divert to Edwards where the weather was predictably near-perfect. NASA prefers to land at Kennedy Space Center because of the cost, time and risk associated with flying an orbiter back to Florida on top of one of NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. It costs approximately $1.8 million for each cross-country ferry flight. Atlantis will return to Kennedy Space Center in about a week. Atlantis left what is essentially a new telescope following five back-to-back spacewalks that repaired two failed instruments, installed two new instruments and replaced a balky science data formatting computer. Astronauts also replaced aging insulation around the observatory, all of which should give the storied telescope at least 5 more years of life, perhaps more. Spacewalkers also installed a grapple fixture on Hubble that will allow an unmanned spacecraft or the manned Orion capsule to deorbit, or potentially service, the satellite at some future date. Like the observatory, the fifth servicing mission to Hubble Space Telescope is its own tale of trial and determination. Once cancelled in the wake of the Columbia accident, supporters of Hubble fought vigorously for over two years to have the mission re-instated. "Now, and only now, can we declare the mission a total success," said NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science Ed Weiler following Atlantis' landing. "We've now entered the second chapter of the great American comeback story. "This mission was cancelled January 16, 2004. If you'd have told me on that day I'd be sitting here five years later with a totally successful five EVA mission, with a brand new Hubble once again that will probably operate well into the third decade of its life, I wouldn't have bet you a penny. But Hubble is the great American comeback story, Chapter Two." (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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