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This photo provided Thursday, May 14, 2009 by NASA shows the
Hubble Space Telescope following the grapple of the observatory
by the shuttle's remote manipulator system Wednesday,
May 13, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA)
Update - 7:02am MDT: NASA mission managers have decided to pass on all landing opportunities for the Space Shuttle Atlantis for Saturday. The weather in Florida has been rainy and the forecast is not expected to immediately improve.
The shuttle will remain in orbit until at least Sunday when they hope to land in Florida. CAPCOM Greg Johnson in talking to the crew of Atlantis said, "There's a chance for a landing at Kennedy tomorrow, and we're going to keep that option open. Edwards remains good for tomorrow and Monday, if needed." See below for a recap of Atlantis' high successful mission.
- Florida weather: See live weather radar below
- Slideshow: Amazing images of the Hubble repair mission
- NASA: Mission updates
Update - 6:27am MDT: Space shuttle mission managers have elected to pass on Atlantis' first opportunity to land at Kennedy Space Center this morning. Poor weather is impacting Florida and preventing a landing at this time. The next two landing opportunities are at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 10:45 a.m. or Kennedy again at 10:54 a.m.
Original Story posted at 4:33am:
Officials at NASA are evaluating the weather at Kennedy Space Center early this morning and trying to determine when – and where - the space shuttle Atlantis and its seven member will return to Earth.
Yesterday’s planned landing was delayed due to rain and thunderstorms in Florida and today’s forecast is not looking any better. The agency has three opportunities to bring Atlantis home today, the first at 9:15am EDT. At the current time, the National Weather Service is forecasting a chance for rain at that time - click here to view the forecast.
According to NASA’s latest update the crew has closed the shuttle's payload bay doors and has been instructed to put on their launch and entry suits. Controller Greg Johnson told the STS-125 crew that the weather was, "dynamic. It's right on the border. We're continuing to watch it."
Should the shuttle not be able to land in Florida today, mission managers have two other options.
First, the shuttle has enough supplies and fuel to remain in space until Monday and they could wait for better weather however thunderstorms are in the area’s forecast for the foreseeable future.
The second option would be to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California where the weather is good and three landing opportunities are available there today, the first at 10:45am. NASA however prefers not to land in California due to the time and expense required to ferry the shuttle back to Florida.
Atlantis will be returning to Earth after a high successful 12-day mission which saw the crew perform the final servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. Five spacewalks upgraded the Hubble with new instruments and fixed two others while replacing other aging components. NASA hopes the servicing will allow the 19-year-old telescope to remain in service for five to 10 more years.
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