cameras, TV monitors, gazebos, TV
and radio and TV vans and a myriad
of different nationalities all here to
see Atlantis soar skyward. I try to take
all this in and enjoy being in such a
privileged and famed place. It was
as we were told busier than normal.
In the press room, we are told we
will be allowed to go and see the
crew “walkout” from their quarters,
the busses are ready to take us there,
but we have to leave all our gear on
the floor beside the bus to begin with
whilst the sniffer dogs make sure all is
safe to go. Once at the crew building we get into position and after
quite a wait we get to see the crew
come out. You know of their impending arrival as just a few minutes before the suit techs in their distinctive
Khaki overall’s come out first with
the crew’s flight helmets in bags and
then at the bottom of the elevator
corridor a guy with what looked like
an M16 rifle was spotted and soon
after that you hear the distinctive
sounds of the NASA “Huey” above
your head as the crew make their
way out to the awaiting press, other
dignitaries and workers.
The crew give a wave then pause
for a picture opportunity in front of
the amassed press core, and then
begin their boarding of the astro bus
that will transport them out to Pad
39A. Several people commented
that they didn’t get too many good
shots as the IMAX team had their
camera in the way; a film is being
made of the mission using IMAX so
I look forward to seeing that sometime in the future. Fortunately for me
though I was nowhere near it. It really
was incredible to see the crew walking out; it’s like being transported to
a special place you only ever see
on television, in magazines or books
and where other historical astronauts
have taken the very same steps.
The crew astro van is followed
along by the NASA Huey and by
an armoured vehicle , it looks very
menacing and no doubt has enough
armament inside it the size of a small
country, but this is serious business
and NASA rightly leave nothing to
chance.
The crew of STS-125 is comprised
seven astronauts, Commander Scott
“Scooter” Altman for whom STS-125
would be his fourth spaceflight and
his second visit to Hubble; Pilot Gregory Johnson making his first spaceflight; mission specialist Michael
Good a first time flyer; Megan McArthur the flight engineer and lead
robotics specialist, making her first
space flight; John Grunsfeld, a NASA
veteran, who would be making his
fifth flight into space and his third visit
to Hubble; Mike Massimino, making
his second flight into space and second to Hubble; and finally Andrew
Feustal another first time flyer.
One thing that made the crew
seem more tightly knit was the fact
that they had been in training for this
mission for years, each subsequent
delay brought them closer together
as a groups and in turn gave them
more time to practice the tasks they
would face in the coming days of
the mission.
Whilst en-ro