Space Shuttle Archives

May 15, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Marathon EVA for Hubble Astronauts

View from Mike Massimino's helmet camera of Mike Good using the Pistol Grip Tool. Credit: NASA TV

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The Hubble Space Telescope kept throwing curveballs at spacewalking astronauts on Friday, but with more elbow grease and a “if at first you don’t succeed, try again” attitude they were able to accomplish all the objectives for the second EVA of the repair mission. In what turned out to be the 8th longest spacewalk in US history, Mike Massimino and Mike Good replaced six gyroscopes – two wouldn’t fit, so spares had to be used — and four batteries. Both jobs were top priorities for the mission, and will give Hubble the power and control it needs to keep going until at least 2014, hopefully longer.

To start off the spacewalk, there were some tense moments when Massimino’s communication system didn’t work, and for about two minutes no one could hear him. “That was a little scary,” Good said after communication was reestablished.

Replacing the gyroscopes was the first task, and a big requirement for the mission. Three of the old gyroscopes no longer worked, and two others had been having problems recently.

Good helps Massimino out of the inside of Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Massmino, who is over 6 feet tall, squeezed inside Hubble to begin removing the old gyros. “Trained my whole life for this,” he said.

The old gyroscopes came out with no problems, but two of the new ones didn’t “seat” correctly and couldn’t be bolted in. Two spares were retrieved and installed, but by the time the gyroscope task was completed, five hours had ticked by on the spacewalk. At one point later on in the EVA, the astronauts “plugged in” to get more oxygen to make sure they had enough for the rest of the lengthy excursion outside the shuttle.

The support crew inside the shuttle tried to keep things light to encourage the two spacewalkers. “My friend Leonidas has a couple of words for you guys that are appropriate right now,” shuttle commander Scott Altman told the spacewalkers, referring to the ancient Spartan king. “Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time.”

“We’ve got a little more work to do, but thanks,” Massimino replied.

Next on the agenda was replacing the huge batteries, which weigh over 500 lbs each. As the spacewalkers successfully finished that task, astronaut John Grunsfeld radioed, “Great job guys. Batteries ARE included on this flight!”

Good carries a replacement gyroscope to Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Three more batteries will be replaced in an EVA next week.

The spacewalk ended after 7 hours and 56 minutes, surpassing another spacewalk back in 1993 to replace gyroscopes on Hubble.

“Every day has been ‘hold your breathe’ on this mission,” said Dave Leckrone, HST Senior Scientist at a press briefing following the EVA. “That points to the complexity of the observatory and what it takes to maintain it.”

On Saturday, the third spacewalk of the mission will replace the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, and repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This will be the first time a repair — and mot just a replacement — of a Hubble instrument in space will be attempted.

May 15, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Amazing Images of Shuttle and Hubble Transiting Sun

In this tightly cropped image the NASA space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope are seen in silhouette, side by side during solar transit at 12:17p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 13, 2009, from west of Vero Beach, Florida. The two spaceships were at an altitude of 600 km and they zipped across the sun in only 0.8 seconds. Photo Credit: (NASA/Thierry Legault)

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No, these aren’t sunspots finally appearing on our currently quiet sun. Check out these amazing images taken by photographer Thierry Legault. The “spots” are actually the space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope transiting across the sun! Legault’s website says these are the only images ever taken of a transit of a shuttle and the HST in front of the Sun. Legault was in Florida at the time he took this image, about 100 km south of the Kennedy Space Center on May 13th 2009 12:17 local time, several minutes before grapple of Hubble by Atlantis. The transit only lasted .8 seconds, and Legault was able to snap 4 images a second, getting a total of 16 different shots of the entire event (he started shooting 2 seconds before the predicted transit.)

He took another image the previous day of just the shuttle transiting (see below.)

In this tightly cropped image, the NASA space shuttle Atlantis is seen in silhouette during solar transit, Tuesday, May 12, 2009, from Florida. This image was made before Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 had grappled the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Thierry Legault)

Here, space shuttle Atlantis is seen in silhouette during solar transit, on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, also taken from Florida. This image was taken made before Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 had caught up with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Amazing!

See more on NASA’s Flickr page.

See more of Legault’s photographer here and here.

May 14, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Camera That Saved Hubble is Replaced

The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 is removed from Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

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While mission specialists John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel successfully accomplished all their tasks for the first EVA of the Hubble servicing mission, it didn’t come without a little drama. A stubborn bolt threatened to thwart one of the spacewalk’s main goals, replacing the venerable space telescope’s workhorse optical camera with a new and improved instrument. But after a fair amount of old fashioned elbow grease, the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was able to be removed. The camera was originally installed in the first Hubble servicing mission in 1993, and was nicknamed “the camera that saved Hubble” because its special optics were able to overcome the spherical aberration in the telescope’s main mirror.

The astronauts also replaced Hubble’s data handling computer – the system that relays data to Earth which gave out last September, delaying this servicing mission, (scheduled to launch last October) until a replacement would be ready.

Watch HD video taken by the shuttle astronauts of Thursday’s activities.

Astronauts removing WFPC2 from Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Strapped onto the shuttle’s robotic arm, Feustel struggled with a bolt on the old WFPC2 camera for more than an hour. “It’s been in there for 16 years — and it didn’t want to come out,” Grunsfeld said.
Feustel and Grunsfeld worried the bolt might snap, but Mission Control gave Feustel the go-ahead to disable the torque setting on his pistol grip tool.

“We understand if it breaks, then Wide Field (Planetary Camera 2) stays in,” Grunsfeld verified with Mission Control, before Feustel’s high stakes attempt.

“What John said is correct,” capcom Dan Burbank confirmed.

Astronaut Drew Feustel loosens the bolt on WFPC2. Credit: NASA TV

Feustel cranked with all his might, and finally it turned.

“I think I got it — It turned, it definitely turned. And it’s turning easily now. Woo hoo, it’s moving out” Feustel said jubilantly.

Once the bolt was freed, Feustel pulled out the old camera, which is about the size of a piano.

Feustel carrying the old WFPC2 down to the shuttle's payload bay. Credit: NASA TV

Installing the new $132 million WFPC3 was among the highest priorities for the mission, and will allow Hubble to capture images in infrared, ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of objects from as early as 500 million years after the birth of the universe.

Grunsfeld and Feustel also attached a docking mechanism on Hubble so a robotic spacecraft can attach itself to the telescope when its mission is over and maneuver it through a commanded descent through Earth’s atmosphere to its final resting place in the Pacific Ocean. They also lubricated some of Hubble’s doors and tried to install door mechanisms, which also gave them some trouble.

John Grunsfeld works on Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

After installation of WFPC2 and the new data handling system, the Space Telescope Operations Center tested the connections and communications with the instruments, and was able to report to the crew on orbit that both systems passed initial “aliveness” tests.

The 11-day mission is NASA’s fifth and final repair mission to Hubble, with five consecutive spacewalks scheduled. This is NASA’s last chance to service the telescope the end of the shuttle program in 2010. NASA hopes the improvements will keep Hubble operational until at least 2014.

On Friday, two different spacewalkers will replace Hubble’s old and suspect gyroscopes and a set of aging batteries in order to extend the space telescope’s lifetime through at least 2014. Watch NASA TV online to see the EVA, or follow me on Twitter – I’ll be tweeting the highlights of the spacewalk.

May 13, 2009January 24, 2021 by Nancy Atkinson

Hubble Captured by Space Shuttle Crew

Hubble grappled by Atlantis' RMS. Credit: NASA TV

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The Hubble Space Telescope is now safely in the arms of space shuttle Atlantis. “Houston,” a jubilant shuttle commander Scott Altman called down, “Hubble has arrived on Atlantis!” “Everybody is very excited up here, I can tell you,” said Hubble fixit man John Grunsfeld. “We’re looking at an amazing sight right now. Hubble as an old man of 19 years still looks in fantastic shape.” However, there were a few tense moments as additional commands were required to get Hubble back in communication with the ground. Communication was re-established shortly before the shuttle was to begin a special maneuver to re-align the telescope’s antenna, much to the relief of everyone on the ground and in space.

UPDATE 2:15 EDT: Hubble is now securely attached to the servicing platform in Atlantis’ payload bay.

The grapple of Hubble occurred at 1:14 EDT, 350 statute miles over western Australia as both spacecraft orbited in tandem at 5 miles per second. With Hubble’s mass of 11,000 kg.

Screenshot of first view of Hubble from Atlantis on NASA TV.

Atlantis approached Hubble from below, and when the shuttle was 700 feet away, Altman took over manual control of the shuttle, with a 42 degree yaw maneuver to align the two spacecraft. Altman then guided the ship up to within 35 feet of the observatory. Megan McArthur, operating Atlantis’ 50-foot- Remote Manipulator System, or robot arm, grappled the telescope. McArthur will then move the arm to mount Hubble on a service platform in the shuttle’s cargo bay.

The view from the shuttle's RMS camera of the grapple fixture on Hubble. NASA TV.

The actual repair work will begin tomorrow (May 14) when the STS-125 crew will conduct the first of five spacewalks.

Scratches visible on Atlantis, found during the inspection. Credit: NASA

Also, later on Wednesday, a final determination will be made on damage to the shuttle, seen in the picture above, Early assessment from engineers was that the damage is not a problem. But further examination of results from the thermal protection system inspection will be done to determine of the scratches or scrapes will need to be fixed on orbit before the shuttle returns home.

Additionally, for more info on the Hubble Telescope, check out Phil Plait’s new article, “Ten Things You Don’t Know About Hubble.”

May 12, 2009May 13, 2009 by Nancy Atkinson

Atlantis HD Launch Video; Heat Shield Inspection Today

Following Monday’s successful launch of the space shuttle, Atlantis and her crew are well on their way to rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope on Wednesday. During their first full day in orbit, the STS-125 crew members will inspect Atlantis’ heat shield for any problems that may have occurred during launch. Despite the picture perfect liftoff, there were a couple of issues during launch — a couple of alarms went off (more on those below.) If you missed the launch (like I did) or want to see it again, here’s a chance to watch it in HD. Also, below watch an HD video of the external tank falling to Earth, taken by a new high definition camera system.
Continue reading “Atlantis HD Launch Video; Heat Shield Inspection Today”

May 4, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Hubble Servicing Mission Meets the Big Screen; Watch With Friends

Previous Hubble servicing mission. Credit: NASA

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The crew of the upcoming Hubble servicing mission have not only been busy training for all contingencies of spaceflight on the shuttle and telescope repair (have you been following Astro_Mike on Twitter?) but they’ve also been training for the big screen. The REALLY big screen. NASA announced today that the crew will be using IMAX 3-D cameras to document this most complex of space shuttle operations — the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. And in another bit of news, in a show of solidarity and support of the shuttle astronauts, astronomers from the University of Alabama are encouraging everyone to “raise a wing” to the Hubble repair crew.

The IMAX 3-D cameras will launch aboard space shuttle Atlantis, which is scheduled to lift off May 11. Astronauts will use the cameras to film five spacewalks needed to repair and upgrade Hubble. The IMAX footage will be combined with images from Hubble itself to create a new IMAX producton, “Hubble 3D,” set for release in spring 2010.

“We have worked with IMAX on past Hubble missions and are excited about working with them again on the current Hubble mission. The Hubble Space Telescope continues to dazzle us with the splendor of our universe, and after the mission we look forward to many more years of awe-inspiring imagery,” said Bob Jacobs, NASA’s acting assistant administrator for public affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “IMAX has developed innovative 3-D image capture and projection technology that creates a large-scale, immersive educational experience in which those of us on the ground are no longer passive observers of spaceflight, we’re active participants.”

The IMAX team has trained Atlantis’ crew at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to operate the cameras. One will be mounted outside the crew cabin in the shuttle’s cargo bay to capture IMAX 3-D images of the historic final servicing mission. The commander and pilot will double as filmmakers as two teams of spacewalking astronauts — working in tandem with the shuttle’s robotic arm — perform some of the most challenging work ever undertaken in space as they replace and refurbish many of the telescope’s precision instruments.

And now for more on “raising a wing” to the crew, which came to us via Pamela Gay: Dr. William Keel of the University of Alabama Department of Physics and Astronomy is planning to head to the local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch NASA TV during the Hubble repair mission’s EVAs. This is perhaps astronomy’s “championship” event, and instead of the Final Four, it’s the final Hubble servicing mission. Keel will be watching with colleagues and students to take in the EVAs and perhaps even raise a Wild Wing in salute of the astronauts achievements.

On her Starstryder blog, Gay says, “While this idea started in Tuscaloosa, there is no reason for it to end there. Many restaurants and bars have cable television packages that include NASA TV. Next week, grab a friend and grab a beverage and ask the guy behind the bar to tune the TV into the greatest high risk game of all: It’s Man versus the Machine as Mike Massimino and the STS-125 team of astronauts upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.”

If you’re interested in joining in, check out the NASA TV schedule.

May 1, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA Begins Job Layoffs As Shuttle Retirement Looms

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NASA began the first round of job layoffs today as the space agency prepares to retire its fleet of space shuttles. 160 people were notified today their jobs were being cut, the first of 900 jobs that will evaporate in the next five months. The first wave of layoffs will affect Lockheed Martin and ATK Thiokol, contractors that support the shuttle program building fuel tanks and rocket boosters in Louisiana and Utah. The shuttle program employs about 1,600 NASA civil servants across the space agency and 13,800 contractors around the country. Once the shuttle stops flying, as many as 6,500 jobs could be cut at the Kennedy Space Center alone.

NASA announced the first round of layoffs at a briefing Thursday, where they also announced the launch date for the Hubble Telescope repair mission as May 11, a day earlier than previously planned. Making the two divergent announcements at the same news conference was bittersweet.

Officials at the briefing stressed that without an infusion of money in 2010 — for which a detailed budget is expected to be released next week — they had no choice but to continue the gradual shutdown of shuttle operations.

Bill Gerstenmaier (left), NASAÂ?s associate administrator for space operations, and shuttle-program manager John Shannon announce job cuts Thursday at Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA

Shuttle program manager John Shannon said several hundred jobs will be lost to attrition and some employees will transfer to other contractors or projects. The rest will be layoffs.

“Only if we were directed to fly additional missions would we halt that activity,” Shannon said.

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations, said that if $2.5 billion proposed recently by Congress budget planners materialized, it could allow a few shuttles to fly past the 2010 retirement date if some shuttle flights got delayed and NASA were unable to complete the construction of the international space station.

He added that, although the shuttle program’s plans were clear, it was less certain how quickly jobs would ramp up for the shuttle’s replacement, the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule.

The first launch of Ares I and Orion is planned for March 2015, but that date is not certain.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

April 30, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

It’s Official: Hubble Mission to Launch May 11

[/caption]After today’s Flight Readiness Review for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, mission managers unanimously agreed to set May 11 at 2:01 p.m. EDT as the launch date. This long awaited flight will repair and upgrade Hubble, likely the most significant satellite ever launched. And, for the space shuttle, it’s a final visit to a dear, old friend.

During the 11-day mission’s five spacewalks, astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and perform the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014.

In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis also will carry a replacement Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removing the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, delaying this servicing mission until the replacement was ready.

Veteran astronaut Scott Altman will command the final space shuttle mission to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and retired Navy Capt. Gregory C. Johnson will serve as pilot. Mission specialists rounding out the crew are: veteran spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino, and first-time space fliers Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.

Source: NASA

April 30, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

The NASA Buzz: Shuttle Extension, Abandoning the Moon, and What About an Administrator?

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The blogosphere and Twitterverse has been buzzing the past couple of days with NASA what-ifs and possibilities. But that usually happens whenever there are Congressional hearings about our favorite space agency. Here’s the run-down of what is really happening: No extra money has been given to extend the shuttle program as of yet but it is a possibility. NASA is not going to abandon going to the Moon. And no, President Obama hasn’t named a new NASA administrator yet. Want the details?

House and Senate leaders have agreed to authorize $2.5 billion to keep the U.S. space shuttle fleet flying through 2011. While no money has actually been appropriated for that yet, the extension would happen only if necessary to complete currently planned missions to the international space station. If another flight were added to the shuttle manifest, it’s possible the controversial Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument would be brought to the station. AMS was mothballed after the Columbia accident in 2003 as a cost cutting move, but the because of the international scientific community’s outcry about cutting the one really exciting science experiment to fly on the space station (that was mostly paid for by other countries) last year Congress told NASA to reconsider. They are supposed to make a decision today.

But the shuttle retirement is controversial from a political point of view because it affects thousands of aerospace industry jobs, not only in Florida, but nationwide. Retiring the shuttle in 2010 would also give a five year gap (at least) until the Orion crew vehicle is ready to fly, making the US dependant on Russia for bringing humans and supplies to the ISS. This week House and Senate budget conferees agreed on “the strategic importance of uninterrupted human access to space” and said the extra $2.5 billion is provided “in anticipation that the funding is needed” to safely “complete the construction and equipping” of the space station.

But some NASA officials and contractors worry that giving more funding to the shuttle program would hamper the efforts for the Constellation program, funneling money away from the new rocket that will help return humans to the moon, hopefully by 2020. The Constellation program has already begun shifting gears and figuring out how to make flying by 2015 actually work. Ian reported last week that the Orion crew size would likely be decreased from six to four, which also makes the spacecraft lighter. One issue engineers have been facing has been excess weight. Other reports look like this is likely a done deal.

Speaking of returning to the Moon, Wednesday’s appropriation hearings created some buzz when Chris Scolese, the agency’s acting administrator, said he anticipates changes. Some reports said Scolese gave vague answers. Others had NASA abandoning the a base on the Moon, but that is likely an exaggeration.

“I just can’t tell you what those changes would be,” Scolese told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. “We’re still looking at options for what do we mean by the moon. Do we mean a colony on the moon? That’s clearly very expensive. Are we looking at something along the lines of what we did with Apollo?” he said.

But that correlates completely with legislation passed in October, 2008 that says:

“As NASA works toward the establishment of a lunar outpost, NASA shall make no plans that would require a lunar outpost to be occupied to maintain its viability. Any such outpost shall be operable as a human-tended facility capable of remote or autonomous operation for extended periods.”

Scolese also pointed out that the budget overview released earlier this year by President Obama clearly backs the previous administration’s goal of sending astronauts to the moon by 2020, a decade after the scheduled retirement of the shuttle fleet.

“It will probably be less than an outpost on the moon, but where it fits between sorties — single trips to the moon to various parts — and an outpost is really going to be dependent on the studies that we’re going to be doing,” he said.

What will really end up happening on the Moon is likely to change over time, just as the Constellation program already appears to be changing.

And finally, the current administration has yet to name a new NASA administrator. One person whose name had been floating around recently, General Lester Lyles, withdrew himself from consideration Wednesday. Another name that has surfaced is Lori Garver, former NASA associate administrator who headed Obama’s space transition team.

Sources: Florida Today, Lunar Network Blog, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal

April 24, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA Will Try to Launch Hubble Repair Mission Early

STS-125 poster. Click for Hi-Res version.

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Personally, I think this move is just in response to the Onion’s most recent dig at NASA (“NASA Embarks on Epic Delay”) but mission managers for the upcoming Hubble repair mission are considering moving the launch of space shuttle Atlantis up one day to May 11. This would allow an extra day for launch attempts. May 12 had been the target day, but deputy program manager LeRoy Cain told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the shuttle will likely be ready a day earlier, which would give Atlantis and extra day for a launch attempt before having to stand down for a week to allow the military to proceed with a previously scheduled launch at the Eastern Test Range. A decision about whether Atlantis will be ready to fly on the 11th will come next week Thursday (April 30) following a mission management review. But an accident at the launch pad that dinged one of Atlantis’ payload bay doors might hinder moving the launch up a day, and engineers are assessing if a repair is necessary.

A socket wrench at the launch pad. Credit: NASASpaceflight.com

A one-and-one-eighth-inch socket from a torque wrench fell from a service platform and hit Atlantis’ left payload bay door radiator while cargo for the Hubble repair mission was being installed. None of the cargo for the mission was damaged. Engineers will decide if any repairs are needed.

But moving the launch up a day may be a first for NASA.

“We prefer to have three launch attempts days available and the team is off evaluating May 11,” Cain said. “It looks very good, but it will be constrained by the work that needs to be done with the cargo elements. We’ll set the official launch date next week

If any delays occur (weather, technical, etc) that Atlantis can’t get off the pad by May 13, the next opportunity to launch wouldn’t be until May 22. NASA, the military and commercial operators share tracking, safety and other support services at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Usually, it takes at least two days to configure the range for supporting different types of rockets.

Members of the STS-125 crew at a press briefing. Credit: NASA

At a later press briefing yesterday, the crew of the STS-125 mission to Hubble said they are looking forward to the mission. “We are ready for this mission, we are trained and looking forward to executing everything we’ve been preparing for,” said the commander Scott Altman.

The other “big” news revealed (perhaps another first) during the crew press conference is that Mike Massimino, who has been Twittering during the training for the mission, (@Astro_Mike) will attempt to Twitter from space. Massimino said he wasn’t yet sure how the team would work out the technical issues, as space missions don’t usually have streaming internet.

“We’re going to be really busy so I’m not sure how much we’ll do this from orbit,” he said. “I’ll try to do it when I have free time in between missions. I can’t make any promises, but I’m going to try.”