STS-125 Mission:
Last visit
to Hubble
By Andrew Green FBIS
For a mission that was almost never to be, STS-125 will be remembered in years
to come as a resounding success story, one of NASA’s great missions and a tribute to the ingenuity of engineers and astronauts alike. Rejuvenating the world’s
most famous telescope and setting it free to make more scientific discoveries
the mission of STS-125 marked the final visit to the world’s most famous telescope
Hubble, and it took place in full view of the world’s media.
I was fortunate to be at Kennedy Space Centre’s, KSC press site for the duration of the flight, as a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, reporting on behalf of the society I was honoured to be there.
In the past I have been fortunate to meet NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
as well as Bruce McCandless, who were both members of the STS-31 team that
launched Hubble into space in 1990, and I have met and lectured alongside
Dr Jeffrey Hoffman who was mission specialist on STS-61 the first repair mission to
Hubble in 1993, so I felt a close affinity with the mission of STS-125, I was so happy
to be at the Kennedy Space Centre to witness it.
It seems such a long time ago now, way back on the 16th of January 2004,
when the then NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe originally cancelled the repair
mission to Hubble, and by doing so, put paid to any future repair missions to the
telescope as well. His reasons, citing safety constraints imposed by the Columbia
Accident Investigation Board after the loss of Columbia on February 1, 2003.
During the announcement, Sean O’Keefe stated that it was his decision alone
as administrator, and not a recommendation from any other departments. At
the time, the decision was widely criticised by both the media and the scientific
community and even some from within NASA. Hubble it seemed was to remain
an injured bird with no hope of rescue.
At the time of Sean O’Keefe’s decision, one senator in particular from Maryland, Barbara Mikulski who was actually a member of the Senate subcommittee
that oversees NASA’s budg