Mirror Images

It's really taking a lot of self control right now not to bust out singing a popular Foreigner song from 1978. What you are seeing here is not the result of some fancy photoshopping. It really is two Space Shuttles ready on the pads at the Kennedy Space Center. This is the last time you will ever see this occurrence and the first time it's happened since 2001. The Space Shuttle Atlantis is in the foreground on launch pad 39A in preparation for its launch on STS-125 while Endeavour stands ready on launch pad 39B in case it is needed as a rescue vessel for Atlantis during its risky Hubble servicing mission set to launch October 10. STS-125 will be the first Space Shuttle mission not to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station since the Columbia disaster in 2003. As the Hubble and ISS are in vastly different orbits, a docking with the ISS in case of an emergency heat shield situation will be impossible. This is why NASA managers have Endeavour ready to go, should it be needed. Once it gets the all clear from it's rescue standby, Endeavour will be rolled over to 39A for STS-126 to the ISS targeted around November 26. After it rolls off 39B over to 39A NASA will begin it's transformation of 39B into a future launch pad for Constellation missions.

CLICK HERE to see an ultra high-res version of the picture above.

[NASA]
Image Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

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The Big Picture Highlights Upcoming Hubble Servicing Mission

We've made it clear on PointNiner before that the Boston Globe's The Big Picture is one of our favorite blogs. Today the site released a post of pictures from NASA highlighting its upcoming Space Shuttle mission, STS-125, that will provide the Hubble telescope with its final servicing. As always, The Big Picture delivered with some superb photography to document the preparations under way with this risky mission. Set to launch next month, the Space Shuttle Atlantis will deliver critical new instruments, batteries and gyroscopes to keep Hubble alive. Click HERE to see all of the sweet shots from The Big Picture's feature on this mission. I also found the video below in the forum on The Big Picture. It's a nice trailer for what NASA will do on STS-125. Enjoy.

Photo: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
[The Big Picture]

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