spacetoday.net: Atlantis returns to VAB

Posted: Wed, Oct 22, 2008, 9:10 AM ET (1310 GMT)
STS-125: rollback to VAB (NASA/KSC)

The space shuttle Atlantis returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Monday as its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope has been postponed until at least early next year. The rollback of Atlantis from pad 39A to the VAB started early Monday morning and ended about six hours later. Atlantis had been scheduled to launch this month on STS-125, a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, but that mission was delayed when the telescope's science computer malfunctioned; the delay will give astronauts time to train for replacing the computer with a ground spare. The move of Atlantis to the VAB will allow Endeavour, currently at pad 39B, to move over to pad 39A. Endeavour is slated to launch on an ISS assembly mission, STS-126, in mid-November.