Atlantis Crew Headed Back to Houston

The crew of shuttle Atlantis departed Kennedy Space Center this afternoon and headed back to Houston after a short visit to brush up on training.

Today, the astronauts returned to the 195-foot level of the launch tower at pad 39A, reviewing procedures for how they would evacuate Atlantis and the pad area in the event of a launch abort or emergency.

The crew, led by mission commander Scott Altman, had gone through similar training and a more extensive countdown dress rehearsal back in September, when the launch was scheduled for Oct. 14.

But in September, the 11-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope was postponed after a computer on board the telescope malfunctioned. Liftoff is targeted for May 12.

On Thursday, technicians installed a replacement computer unit - called the Science Instrument Control and Data Handling unit - on a cargo palette in KSC's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

Mission managers didn't have to remove anything to make room for the added hardware, which wasn't originally part of the mission.

To accommodate its installation, some work that had been planned to be done over two of the mission's five spacewalks will be compressed into one spacewalk.

The seven astronauts, who flew into KSC Wednesday afternoon, watched the installation and spent time familiarizing themselves with the rest of their mission's hardware, and the tools that will be used to work on it.

The crew took off from KSC's shuttle runway in T-38 training jets, heading back to Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center.

They're not expected to return to the Space Coast until a few days before launch day.

IMAGE NOTE: Above, inside the White Room on Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, STS-125 crew members review procedures for entry into space shuttle Atlantis with a trainer (right). From left are Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, Mission Specialist Megan McArthur, Commander Scott Altman, and Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel and Mike Massimino. Not seen clearly are Mission Specialists Michael Good (left) and John Grunsfeld (right). Below, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at KSC, technicians look over the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH, installed on the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier. The SIC&DH will be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis