NASA is used to all kinds of contingency planning. But not much was publicly shared about STS-400 – the mission which required two shuttles at launch pads, both ready to go, in May.
STS-125 – Atlantis – was on its way to repair the Hubble Telescope, a severely delayed trip. In addition to the usual foam and other debris which have plagued flights during takeoff, there is more space debris every year (indeed a piece came within 2 miles of Atlantis during the flight). The Hubble offers no place to hang around, unlike the International Space Station (ISS) where astronauts live for months if Atlantis was crippled. No way to return - and the Hubble orbit is higher, so even as the ISS flew tantalizingly by, Atlantis could not get to it.
Which is why STS-400 – Endeavour – was on stand by.
If it had flown, it would have been the first time in 40 years NASA had two piloted space craft up at the same time.
I will let this article take over
“The two space shuttles would then approach each other payload bay to payload bay, at a 90-degree angle, about 44 ft apart. Endeavour's robotic arm would grapple the orbital boom system on Atlantis. After Endeavour successfully grapples Atlantis, Endeavour would take attitude control of the "stack" of the two shuttles.”
“Spacewalkers from Endeavour would do one space walk on Flight Day 3 to string a tether between both shuttles. On Flight Day 4, they would conduct two spacewalks to retrieve their colleagues from Atlantis. (the graphic on left from Wikipedia describes the complex move)
Once Atlantis’ crew is safely aboard the rescue orbiter, Endeavour’s crew will maneuver the two vehicles to provide the right separation, which would occur during daylight so the crew could watch for any problems.
Atlantis would be released and be commanded from the ground to do deorbit and landing maneuvers and likely crash into the Pacific Ocean.”
Whew – think about how many things could go wrong in that sequence and be glad we never had to invoke the mission. I am glad I did get close - about 5 miles away- to watch Atlantis take off on that historic mission.
When asked about the risk, Astronaut John Grunsfeld who went on Atlantis said
"When you think about risk, it is all relative to what is the reward, and I think in the big picture Hubble is something that I certainly feel is worth risking my life for because it is about something that is so much bigger than all of us,"
"It is about science, it is about inspiration, it is about discovery. It is about all the kids who will look at the Hubble images and dream."
Wow!
Vinnie- I will always remember this article as how we met- and again, on the final day of the space shuttle launch of Atlantis and the program- thanks for sharing this amazing story again!
Posted by: Debbie Brown | July 09, 2011 at 07:27 AM