-Sound-suppression water system armed.
T-minus 10, 9, 8...
7, 6, 5...
4, 3, 2, 1.
And lift-off of space shuttle Atlantis!
The final visit to enhance the vision of Hubble
into the deepest grandeur of our universe.
[ Radio chatter ]
-Bypass across the board, Scooter. No action.
-Houston now controlling. Atlantis on its way.
All three engines now throttling down as the area begins --
as the vehicle passes through
the area of maximum dynamic pressure.
-Atlantis, Houston. No action on the MPSB2 out P.
-Houston, we copy. No action.
-Atlantis, go at throttle up.
-Houston, Atlantis copies. Go at throttle up.
-Seven miles in altitude.
Altitude -- 49,000 feet.
Flight Control team discussing
the minor transients that were seen at lift-off.
All three engines are in good shape.
The vehicle is headed downrange.
All three hydraulic systems in good shape,
as are the fuel cells.
Atlantis is 18 miles in altitude,
downrange 23 miles,
already traveling 2,500 miles per hour.
Approaching staging,
the burnout of the twin solid rocket boosters,
which have been burning fuel
at a rate of about 11,000 pounds per second.
Solid rocket boosters have done their job.
Atlantis is continuing in its due easterly course to catch up
with the Hubble Space Telescope one last time.