KSC-2009-2979

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the payload ground-handling mechanism, known as the PGHM, is retracted after installing the payloads in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay, at right, for the STS-125 mission. The payload includes the Flight Support System, or FSS, carrier with the Soft Capture Mechanism; the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier with the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH; the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS, and an IMAX 3D camera. Atlantis' crew will service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope for the fifth and final time. The flight will include five spacewalks during which astronauts will refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments. As a result, Hubble's capabilities will be expanded and its operational lifespan extended through at least 2014. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett