Contingency Mission
STS-125 was the only planned shuttle mission after the Columbia accident to be launched into a low-inclination orbit that did not allow rendezvous with the International Space Station. Due to the inclination and other orbit parameters of Hubble, Atlantis would have been unable to use the International Space Station as a safe haven in the event of structural or mechanical failure. To preserve NASA's post-Columbia requirement of having shuttle Launch On Need (LON) rescue capability, STS-400 was the flight designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS) mission which would have been flown by Endeavour in the event Atlantis became disabled during STS-125. After Atlantis performed the late inspection and was cleared for re-entry, Endeavour was officially released from stand-by status on Thursday, 21 May.
Read more about this topic: STS-125
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