page_title: STS-125
section_title: 19 May (Flight day 9)
hierarchical_section_title: STS-125 / Mission timeline / 19 May (Flight day 9)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Hubble Space Telescope lifted out of the payload bay of Atlantis, moments before it is released into space following the successful repair mission of STS-125.
context_page_description: STS-125, or HST-SM4, was the fifth and final Space Shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last solo flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
  The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on 24 May at 11:39 am EDT, with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days.
  Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by a robotic spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan. The mission also carried an IMAX camera with which the crew documented the progress of the mission for the 2010 IMAX film, Hubble.
context_section_description: After awakening at 8:31 UTC, the crew set to work preparing to release Hubble from the payload bay of Atlantis. Using the shuttle's robotic arm, McArthur grappled Hubble at 10:45 UTC, and lifted it out of the orbiter's payload bay to prepare for the release. Good and Massimino were standing by ready to perform a spacewalk in the event that something went wrong during the telescope's deployment. After working through the checklist to prepare the telescope for release, managers on the ground gave the go to Altman to release Hubble, and at 12:57 UTC, McArthur successfully released the telescope as the vehicles flew over Africa. Performing a small separation burn, Johnson backed the orbiter away from the telescope, and Altman called down to managers on the ground confirming the deployment of Hubble. Commending the crew, Altman said "And Houston, Hubble has been released, it's safely back on its journey of exploration as we begin steps to conclude ours. Not everything went as we planned, but we planned a way to work around everything and with the whole team pulling together... we've been able to do some incredible things. And now Hubble can continue on its own, exploring the cosmos, and bringing it home to us as we head for home in a few days. Thank you." Hubble's new equipment and upgraded systems would be tested for several months prior to resuming operation, but if all tests are successful, operation of the telescope would resume in early September.
  Following the separation burn, the crew set to work performing the standard late inspection of the thermal protection system of the orbiter. Using the robotic arm, McArthur, Altman, and Johnson worked through the procedures to inspect the wing leading-edge panels, reinforced carbon-carbon nose cap, and heat shield tiles. After evaluating the weather reports, managers on the ground slightly refined the schedule for landing, opting to bring the shuttle home one orbit early to try to avoid the possibility of showers that would prevent a landing on Friday. The new landing opportunity would bring the crew home at 10:01 am EDT.
caption: The Hubble Space Telescope being lifted out of the payload bay of Atlantis before being released back into space.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2929", "Image ImageLength": "4288", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D2Xs", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:21 05:01:34", "Image ExifOffset": "308", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "998", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5690", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "67/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:05:19 11:32:47", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:05:19 11:32:47", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "7491853/1000000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2744161/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "17", "EXIF SubSecTime": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "90", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1396", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2200", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "25", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Soft", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}