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Old 14-05-2009, 13:48
Ricardodaforce
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Airlock pressure in almost 0 psi. Initial EVA will start soon.
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Old 14-05-2009, 14:03
Ricardodaforce
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Astronauts are now in the payload bay. It's live on NASAtv
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Old 14-05-2009, 15:03
BeethovensPiano
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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v188/status.html

Herschel and Planck are on their way

1400 GMT (10:00 a.m. EDT)

Today's launch has been called "perfect" by Jean-Yves Le Gall. Officials just wrapped up their post-launch speeches in Kourou.

Controllers at ESOC in Germany continue to evaluate the health of Herschel and Planck after today's launch.

1350 GMT (9:50 a.m. EDT)

Acquisition of signal! Ground stations in Western Australia have made contact with Herschel and Planck, confirming they have survived this morning's launch.
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Old 16-05-2009, 16:16
HenryGarten
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Great picture. See http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090516.html
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Old 16-05-2009, 17:53
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Acquisition of signal! Ground stations in Western Australia have made contact with Herschel and Planck, confirming they have survived this morning's launch.
Phew! It's good to know that the Ariane 5 rocket actually delivered something to Earth orbit rather than provide a very entertaining, but expensive, fireworks display.

All being well, Herschel and Planck (http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html) will be joined in five years' time by NASA's James Webb Space Telecope - see here: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/. None of these three missions will provide a direct replacement for Hubble because they work in the infrared or microwave regions.

All the more essential, therefore, that the Hubble repairs go well and credit to Sky News for showing the live launch.
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Old 16-05-2009, 19:04
HenryGarten
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Phew! It's good to know that the Ariane 5 rocket actually delivered something to Earth orbit rather than provide a very entertaining, but expensive, fireworks display.

All being well, Herschel and Planck (http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html) will be joined in five years' time by NASA's James Webb Space Telecope - see here: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/. None of these three missions will provide a direct replacement for Hubble because they work in the infrared or microwave regions.

All the more essential, therefore, that the Hubble repairs go well and credit to Sky News for showing the live launch.
News 24 showed the launch live too. They always do.
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Old 16-05-2009, 19:59
BeethovensPiano
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It's a shame the media have pretty much ignored the spacewalks, but I suppose like always they are waiting for something to go wrong. Nothing at all on the 24HR news channels.

Absolutely amazing right now on NASA TV while repairing the ACS camera.
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Old 16-05-2009, 20:29
balthasar
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Off to find Nasa tv, like find to out how Hubble is getting along.

P.S. does anyone remember Skylab?
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Old 16-05-2009, 20:57
Ricardodaforce
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Off to find Nasa tv, like find to out how Hubble is getting along.

P.S. does anyone remember Skylab?
I do, it's sorta been lost in history hasn't it. Pete Conrad said his skylab mission was more of an acheivement than his time on the moon.
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Old 16-05-2009, 21:03
HenryGarten
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Off to find Nasa tv, like find to out how Hubble is getting along.

P.S. does anyone remember Skylab?
Yes I remember Skylab very well. I remember the drama of Charles Conrad freeing the stuck solar panel in a spacewalk when spacewalking was still quite new.
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Old 16-05-2009, 21:04
HenryGarten
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I do, it's sorta been lost in history hasn't it. Pete Conrad said his skylab mission was more of an acheivement than his time on the moon.
I so remember that night. One of the most exciting nights ever.
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Old 16-05-2009, 21:09
BeethovensPiano
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Things have gone very well n this spacewalk


1951 GMT (3:51 p.m. EDT)
Functional testing of the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph is beginning. The instrument passed initial aliveness testing earlier today.

The repaired Advanced Camera for Surveys has gotten good results from its aliveness test, too. A later functional test will show how well the repair efforts have worked.

Astronauts now back in the airlock.
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Old 16-05-2009, 21:23
HenryGarten
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Anyone got a quick reference to what gaetanomorano was saying about this flight?
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Old 16-05-2009, 21:27
jongruner
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http://www.dailymotion.com/user/ulst...space-pro_tech
on my channel
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Old 18-05-2009, 17:50
BeethovensPiano
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All of the main upgrades and repairs appear to have been completed !!
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Old 18-05-2009, 18:11
BeethovensPiano
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Installing the new outer blankets now.
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Old 18-05-2009, 18:13
BeethovensPiano
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http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
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Old 19-05-2009, 14:15
BeethovensPiano
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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttl...25/status.html

1258 GMT (8:58 a.m. EDT)
Astronomy's iconic orbital observatory -- the Hubble Space Telescope -- has been deployed by the space shuttle Atlantis astronauts after a dramatic five-spacewalk servicing that should allow the spacecraft to continue probing the mysteries of the Universe for several more years.

This fifth and final shuttle flight to overhaul Hubble installed two new science instruments, performed ambitious repairs on two broken instruments, replaced the observatory's 19-year-old battery packs, refurbished the pointing and control system with an upgraded guidance sensor and six fresh gyroscopes, changed out the partially failed science instrument command and data handling unit, mounted a capture mechanism on the craft for future use and added thermal shielding on equipment bay doors. All in all, every single task planned for the Atlantis mission was successfully achieved.
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Old 19-05-2009, 14:18
Ricardodaforce
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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttl...25/status.html

1258 GMT (8:58 a.m. EDT)
Astronomy's iconic orbital observatory -- the Hubble Space Telescope -- has been deployed by the space shuttle Atlantis astronauts after a dramatic five-spacewalk servicing that should allow the spacecraft to continue probing the mysteries of the Universe for several more years.

This fifth and final shuttle flight to overhaul Hubble installed two new science instruments, performed ambitious repairs on two broken instruments, replaced the observatory's 19-year-old battery packs, refurbished the pointing and control system with an upgraded guidance sensor and six fresh gyroscopes, changed out the partially failed science instrument command and data handling unit, mounted a capture mechanism on the craft for future use and added thermal shielding on equipment bay doors. All in all, every single task planned for the Atlantis mission was successfully achieved.
They've done a great job haven't they.
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Old 19-05-2009, 14:22
BeethovensPiano
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They've done a great job haven't they.
They sure have.

Ironically some of the tasks they thought would have been difficult went without any problem at all - such as removing the 110 screws to access the STIS instrument.
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Old 19-05-2009, 18:48
HenryGarten
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So an amazing success then!
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Old 19-05-2009, 18:52
diddygirl
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When are they expected home?
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Old 19-05-2009, 19:00
Ricardodaforce
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When are they expected home?
Friday afternoon in UK time.
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Old 20-05-2009, 12:56
mathertron
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these pics are amazin!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/200...ng_missio.html
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Old 20-05-2009, 13:00
HenryGarten
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Those are fantastic pictures. Thanks for the link.
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