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More Hubble Trouble: The Pieces Aren't Fitting Together
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There's some more bad news from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) processing flow for the Hubble Space Telescope components. After being ferried to Launch Pad 39A Saturday night, the canister carrying the Hubble payload couldn't be mated with ground support equipment (GSE).
The canister has to fit together with the GSE in order to be lifted into the Payload Changeout Room. The payload has to be processed via the Changeout Room to be loaded into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
The payload was already late coming to the pad. Earlier, technicians had discovered some contamination from packing. Clean-up work added extra days to the processing flow. In this photo, technicians perform routine work on part of the Hubble payload.
The STS-125 mission currently doesn't have any contingency days left to accommodate delays and still meet a projected Oct. 10 liftoff date, according to earlier NASA management statements. So far, NASA hasn't issued any official statement about the Hubble payload problems.
Meanwhile, the STS-125 astronauts are arriving at KSC in their T-38 jets to participate in this week's countdown practice tests. Later in the week, they'll dress out in their spacesuits to enter Atlantis for a dry run of launch procedure
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