UCSD Alumna Among Astronaut Crew
to Be Honored in Welcome Home Ceremony
Scripps Graduate Recounts Highlights of Mission to Fix Hubble
Courtesy of NASA
Ioana Patringenaru | May 18, 2009
In the end, coming back home turned out to be the only major glitch for UCSD alumna Megan McArthur and her fellow astronauts during their mission to repair the Hubble Telescope. Hazardous weather at NASA’s Florida landing site kept the space shuttle Atlantis in orbit for two additional days. Finally, mission control decided to land the spacecraft Sunday morning at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert.
Before leaving the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Commander Scott Altman spoke for his crew and thanked NASA personnel for getting them safely back home.
"At last!” Altman said. "We're all thrilled to have the mission complete and it was a testament to the teamwork and cooperation of folks all across the country."
The Atlantis crew will be honored during a welcome-home ceremony this afternoon in Houston. During this mission, McArthur became the last human being to hold on to Hubble via Atlantis’ robotic arm. She also was the first to make contact with the telescope on this mission before releasing it back into space May 19.
“What I felt the most was just awe at the human ingenuity in creating such an amazing thing,” she said from the shuttle’s deck during a press conference. “It was so huge, so close to us.”
Letting go of Hubble
McArthur first spotted the telescope when it was just a tiny dot in one of Atlantis’ windows. She hurried off to tell her fellow astronauts. But most of them were busy preparing their space suits for the following day’s space walk. They asked her to come back when the telescope would be more than a mere speck. Still, the image remains one of the most striking memories of her trip, she said.
Courtesy of NASA
Later that day, McArthur put to use the skills she honed during hours and hours of training on the ground and directed Altantis’ 50-foot arm to grab a fixture on the Hubble and bring it to rest inside the shuttle’s cargo bay. The same training kicked in seven days later when she gently lifted the telescope out of the bay and returned it to space, where it is set to continue its mission for at least five years.
McArthur said she remembers thinking about the shuttle and the telescope, these two extremely complex machines built by humans, about how close they were to each another at that moment and about how they had worked together during the flight. “It’s such a feat of human ingenuity,” she said. “It just felt really great to be a part of it.”
A call from the president
Courtesy of NASA/White House/Pete Souza
Once the Hubble repair work was over, McArthur and her crewmates also had a chance to relax and enjoy the spotlight. They received a call from President Barack Obama Wednesday. “I wanted to personally tell you how proud I am of all of you and everything that you've accomplished,” Obama told the crew. “Like a lot of Americans, I've been watching with amazement the gorgeous images you've been sending back and the incredible repair mission that you've been making in space.”
He jokingly asked the crew if they had seen his house in Chicago during the shuttle’s flyovers. “I'm trying to figure out if my lawn is getting mowed there,” the president said. “I haven't been back for a couple of months.”
Talking to the media
The next day, ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson was on the line, asking why his audience should care about the Hubble repair mission. “This mission has been an example of what the best and brightest in America can do working as a team,” Commander Altman replied.
Courtesy of NASA
An NBC News reporter asked McArthur what it felt like, as an oceanographer, to see the oceans from 350 miles above the Earth. “It’s a good reminder that we have so much right at home,” she said. She also reminisced about her time at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she got her doctorate. That’s where she had her first taste of what it was like to be an explorer, she said.
Meanwhile, FOX News had some children ask astronauts what it felt like to move in space. “The coolest thing is floating around,” McArthur replied. “My hair just kind of floats around, which is pretty fun but I have to make sure I don’t get it in anybody’s face.”
McArthur also was asked what it was like to be the only woman in close quarters with six men. She said it felt like being part of a family. The two years of training had felt like being on a camping trip with a bunch of friends, she said.
Testifying from space
She and fellow astronauts also testified from space during a Senate subcommittee hearing, chaired by Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. McArthur said she felt a sense of wonder at conducting incredible tasks in space and finding that everything went as planned. Mikulski said that all of the astronauts would get a “Hubble hug” upon returning to Earth. Earlier last week, before the hearing, McArthur said she was looking forward to coming home.
“It’s been a great mission and we had a lot of fun up here,” she said.
Watch NASA Videos
of the Atlantis Mission
Atlantis Crew at Work
Astronaut Mike Massimino takes you on a tour of space shuttle Atlantis as the STS-125 crew works through its first full day in space. Watch video
Atlantis Captures Hubble
Space shuttle Atlantis captures the Hubble Space Telescope during mission STS-125, the final servicing mission to the orbiting observatory. Watch video
Atlantis Roars off
on Hubble Chase
Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off to catch up to and service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Watch video
