I’ve noticed that there’s a marked “who cares” when it comes to shuttle missions that aren’t seen as dangerous. People like drama, and as far as the public is concerned, unless there’s a love triangle involved, NASA isn’t dramatic enough.

I think educators are missing something really big with mission STS-125 (HST-SM4). For one thing, the mission specialists are doing extended EVAs. That’s people spending actual days floating and working in space. Additionally, this is it for the shuttle program. It’s time to move on to new ship designs and, new destinations other than orbit. Well, not really new…

We’ve been to one of the destinations before.

So, while this mission isn’t sexy on the outside — it’s important!

Learn more — and share more — from NASA’s official mission website.