It had the look and feel of a celebrity news conference, with maybe a rock group answering questions about an upcoming tour or a cast of actors out promoting a new film. But the group of seven answering questions at Ellington Airport (EFD) on May 26 wasn’t made up of musicians or performers, but rather scientists, engineers and pilots. The seven individuals sitting at center stage in the NASA hangar on that day represented the crew of STS-125, or the mission involving the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Telescope. “A lot of people thought we were biting off more than we could chew and that there were too many things on this mission list,” said Atlantis Commander Scott Altman. “But in the end, working as a team, we were able to pull together and get every objective accomplished.” The crew had just recently finished their twelve day journey into space, landing first at Edwards Air Force Base in California and then making the trip on to Houston and the Johnson Space Center. The visit to Ellington Airport was designed to give members of the media and the general public a firsthand account of how crew members had faced the numerous challenges associated with the last service mission involving the Hubble.

Click Here to view video. © Houston Airport System The Space Shuttle Atlantis crew visits EFD.

The response to NASA’s invitation was overwhelming, with more than a hundred people gathering in front of a flag-draped stage to hear mission details from the Atlantis crew.

“For me this really was the realization of a lifelong dream, to get to go fly in space,” said mission specialist John Grunsfeld. “But to get to do it with this commander and this crew, really made it incredibly special.”

Grunsfeld was part of a team charged with swapping out cameras on the Hubble telescope, with each one weighing 900 pounds and stretching more than 7 feet long.

The new camera will not only extend Hubble’s capability of seeing deep into the universe, but it will also provide scientists with a wider field of imagery.

Pilot Greg Johnson says one of the biggest surprises of the mission was seeing the terrific condition of the massive telescope.

“Looking at Hubble, it was far larger than I expected,” Johnson said. “It was far closer than I expected and it was in great shape for being up there for nineteen years.”

The Atlantis flight was the fifth and final service mission designed to repair and service the Hubble telescope, but it certainly doesn’t represent the last time the red carpet will be rolled out at EFD for a returning shuttle crew.

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