STS-125
Hubble in Atlantis' payload bay
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| Mission type | Hubble servicing |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-025A |
| SATCAT no. | 34933 |
| Mission duration | 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 8,500,000 kilometres (5,300,000 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 197 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Atlantis |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7 |
| Members |
Scott Altman Gregory C. Johnson Michael T. Good Megan McArthur John M. Grunsfeld Michael J. Massimino Andrew J. Feustel |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 11 May 2009, 18:01:56 UTC |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 24 May 2009, 15:39:05 UTC |
| Landing site | Edwards Runway 22 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee | 486 kilometres (302 mi) |
| Apogee | 578 kilometres (359 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.5° |
| Period | 97 min |
| Capture of Hubble | |
| RMS capture | 13 May 2009, 17:14 UTC |
| Berthing date | 13 May 2009, 18:12 UTC |
| Unberthing date | 19 May 2009, 11:24 UTC |
| RMS release | 19 May 2009, 12:57 UTC |
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 From left to right: Massimino, Good, Johnson, Altman, McArthur, Grunsfeld and Feustel |
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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). The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on 24 May at 11:39 am EDT, with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days.
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. The mission also carried an IMAX camera with which the crew documented the progress of the mission for the Hubble IMAX movie.
The crew of STS-125 included three astronauts who had previous experience servicing Hubble.Scott Altman visited Hubble in 2002 as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission.John Grunsfeld, an astronomer, has serviced Hubble twice, performing a total of five spacewalks on STS-103 in 1999 and STS-109.Michael Massimino served with both Altman and Grunsfeld on STS-109, and performed two spacewalks to service the telescope.
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