NASA Managers Praise the STS-125 Mission and Crew

There are few missions in the history of the Space Shuttle program that compare with that just completed -- STS-125 -- the mission to rescue The Hubble Space Telescope. Space shuttle Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 11:39 a.m. EDT, Sunday morning, completing a 13-day journey of approximately 5.3 million miles in space.

During a press conference held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Ed Weiler said, "Now, and only now can we declare this mission a total success -- the astronauts are safely on the ground."

Weiler called NASA's Hubble Space Telescope the great comeback story. He said the public continues to be captivated by the telescope's images of the universe and he hopes to see Hubble operate into its third decade of service.

NASA Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses agreed that this was a fantastic mission. "It's good to have Atlantis back here on the ground," said Moses. He also said the crew did a great job trying to get the shuttle back to Kennedy, even though the weather wouldn't cooperate.

Mike Leinbach, NASA space shuttle launch director, congratulated the STS-125 crew and also commended the crew members who were ready and standing by in case space shuttle Endeavour was needed for a rescue mission.

The STS-125 mission was the 126th shuttle flight, the 30th for Atlantis and the second of five planned for 2009. Hubble was delivered to space on April 24, 1990, on the STS-31 mission. Atlantis' landing at Edwards was the 53rd shuttle landing to occur at the desert air base. Another 70 missions have concluded at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and one at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Hubble has enabled a number of ground-breaking discoveries during its time in orbit. They include determining the age of the universe to be 13.7 billion years; finding that virtually all major galaxies have black holes at their center; discovering that the process of planetary formation is relatively common; detecting the first-ever organic molecule in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star; and providing evidence the expansion of the universe is accelerating because of an unknown force that makes up approximately 72 percent of the matter-energy content in the universe.

With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the focus will shift to the launch of STS-127, targeted for June 13. Endeavour's 16-day flight will deliver a new station crew member and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will serve as a type of "back porch" for experiments that require direct exposure to space.

Altman: 'Thanks to Everyone'

Before leaving Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Commander Scott Altman spoke for his crew to thank everyone for getting them safely back home.

"At last! I didn't realize it was going to be so hard to get back to the Earth, landing here just felt great to everybody," said Altman.

"We're all thrilled to have the mission complete and it was a testament to the teamwork and cooperation of folks all across the country." The STS-125 astronauts will be honored with a welcome home ceremony that will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Houston's Ellington Field.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvEU2XRwlCw