Live in Orbit: Hubble Freed From Payload Bay

Atlantis astronauts have unlocked three latches holding the Hubble Space Telescope to its base in the shuttle's payload bay.

Using a 50-foot robotic arm, mission specialist Megan McArthur gently lifted the four-story observatory from the Flight Support System at 7:26 a.m. EDT.

She'll gradually swing the telescope over the shuttle's starboard side and release it back into space near 9 a.m. EDT, hopefully positioning it for another five to 10 years of cutting edge science observations.

Commander Scott Altman has disabled Atlantis' forward and rear thruster jets to ensure they don't fire during the delicate maneuvers, placing the orbiter in "free drift."

After Hubble is released in orbit about 350 miles above Earth, Atlantis will dive down more than 100 miles to an altitude closer to the International Space Station's.

That will reduce the chance of a strike from space debris, and put Atlantis on the proper trajectory for its planned 10:03 a.m. landing at Kennedy Space Center.

The time of Hubble's release has been adjusted slightly to 8:57 p.m. EDT. That ensures good radio communication, though TV images will not be immediately available. The deployment procedure has a 17-minute window.

Here are some more before-and-after photos of the "unberthing" maneuver.

Before.



After.