STS-125

Scott Altman

• Birthday: 08/15/1959
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/17/1998
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

Scott Douglas “Scooter” Altman is a retired United States Navy Captain, engineer, test pilot and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. His fourth mission on STS-125 was the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Gregory C. Johnson

• Birthday: 07/30/1954
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/11/2009
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

Gregory Carl “Ray J” Johnson is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and NASA astronaut. He spent his military career in both, the United States Navy and the Navy Reserve. He was the Pilot on Space Shuttle mission STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

K. Megan McArthur

• Birthday: 08/30/1971
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/11/2009
• Last Flight: 04/23/2021

Katherine Megan McArthur is an American oceanographer and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the space shuttle and space station. Megan McArthur has flown one space shuttle mission, STS-125. She is known as the last person to be hands on with the Hubble Space Telescope (although she was not actually “hands on” since she was using the robotic arm at the time). McArthur has served in a number of positions including working in the Shuttle Avionics Laboratory (SAIL). She is married to fellow astronaut Robert L. Behnken.

Michael T. Good

• Birthday: 10/13/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/11/2009
• Last Flight: 05/14/2010

Michael Timothy “Bueno” Good is a NASA astronaut and retired commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, holding the rank of Colonel. Mike Good flew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis for its STS-125 mission. STS-125 was the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Good flew as Mission Specialist 2 on STS-132.

Mike Massimino

• Birthday: 08/19/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/01/2002
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

Michael James Massimino is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut. He is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Early life Massimino was born August 19, 1962 in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Franklin Square, New York, both on Long Island. He graduated from H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School in Franklin Square, New York in 1980. He went on to attend Columbia University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering in 1984. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Technology and Public Policy in 1988. He continued his education at MIT, earning a Degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1990 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1992.

Andrew J. Feustel

• Birthday: 08/25/1965
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/11/2009
• Last Flight: 03/21/2018

Andrew Jay “Drew” Feustel is a geophysicist and a NASA astronaut. Following several years working as a geophysicist, Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. His first spaceflight in May 2009, STS-125, lasted just under 13 days. This was a mission with six other astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. Feustel performed three spacewalks during the mission. His second spaceflight was STS-134, which launched on May 16, 2011 and landed on June 1, 2011. STS-134 was the penultimate Space Shuttle flight. Feustel returned to space on March 21, 2018 on Soyuz MS-08 with Expedition 55/56. For expedition 56, he commanded the International Space Station, before handing over to Alexander Gerst on October 3, 2018.

John M. Grunsfeld

• Birthday: 10/10/1958
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/02/1995
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

John Mace Grunsfeld is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and has served as NASA Chief Scientist. His academic background includes research in high energy astrophysics, cosmic ray physics and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in future astronomical instrumentation. After retiring from NASA in 2009, he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 2012, he returned to NASA and served as associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Grunsfeld announced his retirement from NASA in April 2016.

STS-125

• Type: Astrophysics
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). 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 an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 173 rockets, including 172 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 231 rocket launches.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.