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01-04-09 NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis at Launch Pad for Hubble Mission

Atlantis arrived at Launch Pad 39A at approximately 9:10 a.m. EDT Tuesday on top of a giant crawler-transporter.The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 3:54 a.m.,traveling less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey.The shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 11:17 a.m. Atlantis' 11-day mission is the final shuttle flight to Hubble.During five spacewalks,the shuttle's seven astronauts will install two new instruments,repair two inactive ones and replace other Hubble components.The Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit that will be installed in the telescope arrived at Kennedy on Monday.The new unit will replace the one in Hubble that stopped working in September 2008 and delayed the servicing mission.The result of the upgrades will be six working,complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond those now available and an extended operational lifespan of the telescope through at least 2014.Scott Altman will command Atlantis.Gregory C. Johnson will be the pilot.The Mission Specialists will be John Grunsfeld,Mike Massimino,Megan McArthur,Andrew Feustel and Michael Good.STS-125 is the 126th shuttle flight,the 30th flight for Atlantis and the fifth Hubble servicing mission