Category: Space Shuttle

Okay, if you want more information about the current space shuttle mission, I highly recommend that you just go straight to the source and watch it live – directly from NASA. Many people don’t know, but NASA has its own television channel called NASA TV (boring name, I know; I would have called it Space Action Theatre!, but that’s me). I don’t know of any cable companies that support it, but you can usually get the station with a satellite dish.

If you don’t have a satellite dish, or you want to watch the coverage from your computer, then you can watch it on the Internet. The quality of the video stream can be pretty good. Don’t just watch a 10-second clip on CNN, watch the whole spacewalk live and hear the communications between the astronauts and the ground control. The helmet cam is the coolest innovation.

So, where to watch it on the Internet? First check out NASA’s schedule of events here. Then, find a place to watch it on the web. NASA lists some sources on this page, but let me save you the time. Yahoo has the most reliable stream.

Whew, I should probably get job in NASA’s PR department. 😉

Fraser Cain, Publisher

P.S. The Christian Science monitor wrote an article about the Hubble mission, used Universe Today as a source and asked for a link in return. Gladly!

Image credit: NASA
Nearly 48 hours after launching from Cape Canaveral, the space shuttle Columbia caught up with the Hubble Space Telescope, grabbed it with the Canadarm and linked up. After the Sunday morning link up, the astronaut crew activated the motors that retract Hubble’s solar panels – unused since 1993, they performed flawlessly. Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan will begin their first spacewalk on Monday to install new solar arrays.

The Hubble Space Telescope is secure in Columbia?s payload bay following its capture at 3:31 a.m. central time today, as the two spacecraft soared 350 miles above the Pacific Ocean southwest of the Mexican Coast.

Columbia?s chase of the telescope ended with Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Duane Carey manually flying Columbia to within 35 feet of Hubble allowing Mission Specialist Nancy Currie to use the shuttle?s robot arm to gently grasp the orbiting observatory.

With the telescope safely in the payload bay, the crew turned its attention to retracting the two large solar arrays that generate power for the telescope. The motors that drive the two arrays had not been used since the panels were originally deployed during the first servicing mission in December 1993. The motors performed flawlessly taking approximately five minutes to retract each of the two arrays. The retractions were scheduled to take place during orbital daytime to allow sunlight to adequately warm the arrays prior to retraction.

The first in a pair of new-generation solar arrays will be installed by John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan on the first scheduled spacewalk of the mission, which is set to begin about 12:30 a.m. Monday. However, it is possible the spacewalk could begin up to one hour earlier than scheduled.

The crew is scheduled to wake up about 8 p.m. today, and within hours Grunsfeld and Linnehan, with the assistance of crewmates Jim Newman and Mike Massimino, will begin donning their spacesuits. They will begin the spacewalk by setting up some of the tools they will use, before Grunsfeld and Linnehan, working together, remove the old array, stow it in the payload bay and install the new starboard side array. They will also install its associated electrical support components, called a Diode Box Assembly. Mission Control bid the crew goodnight just before noon today concluding a busy and successful day culminating with the capture of the Hubble Space Telescope. The next STS-109 mission status report will be issued Sunday evening following crew wake-up or as events warrant.

Original Source: NASA News Release

Image credit: NASA
Space shuttle managers are debating whether to end the space shuttle Columbia’s mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope because one of its two cooling systems isn’t working properly. Although the shuttle is equipped with two redundant systems, NASA flight rules demand that the shuttle return to Earth if either completely fail – right now, one is just blocked and not working at full capacity. Mission controllers will make a decision to scrub the mission or keep going Friday evening.

Following Columbia?s on-time launch from the Kennedy Space Center this morning, flight controllers in Mission Control noticed a degraded flow rate in one of two freon cooling loops that help to dissipate heat from the orbiter.

There are two freon cooling loops that are part of the shuttle?s active thermal control system, one on the port and one on the starboard side of the payload bay. Freon loop 1 on the port side is showing a degraded flow rate.

While low, the flow rate is slightly above flight rule limits. Mission managers are currently reviewing the flight data and studying the past performance of the sensors that measure the flow rate of the freon through the loops to build confidence in the performance of the freon loop and its ability to support the STS-109 mission through completion.

After reaching orbit this morning, Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Duane Carey commanded the first in a series of engine firings to position Columbia for its Sunday morning rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope. Their crew mates ? Mission Specialists John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino, Nancy Currie, Jim Newman and Rick Linnehan ? began readying Columbia for its on-orbit operations by stowing away their launch and entry suits and opening the interior hatch to Columbia?s airlock.

This is Columbia?s first flight since July 1999, following an extensive modification period in which many of its systems were replaced or enhanced. Columbia was NASA?s first shuttle orbiter and flew for the first time in April 1981.

The next status report will be issued following the crew?s scheduled wake-up call at 8:22 p.m., or as events warrant.

Original Source: NASA News Release

Image credit: NASA

The space shuttle Columbia roared into the Florida sky Friday morning, beginning an 11-day mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission had originally been delayed a day because of unusually chilly weather, but everything was “go for launch” this morning. Columbia lifted off at 1122 GMT (6:22am EST) and is scheduled to meet up with the telescope early Sunday morning.

With the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting high overhead, the shuttle Columbia lifted off this morning on a complex mission to replace and upgrade key telescope systems through five challenging spacewalks.

Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, Flight Engineer Nancy Currie and spacewalkers John Grunsfeld, Rick Linnehan, Jim Newman and Mike Massimino blasted off of Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center at 5:22 a.m. Central time as Hubble orbited just west of Sarasota, Florida at an altitude of about 360 miles. Because of its brightness and elevation, the telescope was visible in the pre-dawn sky over the launch site as Columbia began its pursuit.

Less than nine minutes later, the pioneer shuttle was in orbit for the first time since July 1999, following an extensive modification period in which many of its systems were replaced and enhanced.

Columbia began a two-day chase to reach Hubble for its fourth service call, in which the observatory?s solar arrays, main power switching unit, and a gyroscopic pointing mechanism will be replaced by newer components. In addition, the spacewalkers will also install a new scientific instrument ten times more powerful than the Hubble?s Wide Field Planetary Camera to survey the universe and will attempt to restore an infrared instrument through the installation of a cooling system and an external radiator.

If all goes as planned, Currie will use Columbia?s robot arm to grapple Hubble shortly after 3 a.m. CST on Sunday, setting the stage for five consecutive days of servicing spacewalks beginning early Monday morning.

Columbia?s crew will spend the next few hours unpacking equipment, setting up computers and conducting the first of periodic engine firings that will occur over the next two days to refine the shuttle’s approach to Hubble. The shuttle crew will begin its first sleep period at 12:22 p.m. CST and will be awakened at 8:22 p.m. this evening to begin its first full day in orbit, designed to test the ship?s robot arm, spacesuits and rendezvous equipment which will be used over the next few days.

The next STS-109 mission status report will be issued Friday evening after Columbia?s crew is awakened.

Original Source: NASA News Release

Unusually cold weather in Florida has forced NASA to push back Thursday’s launch of the space shuttle Columbia for its service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Officials are predicting temperatures only a few degrees above freezing, but significantly warmer on Friday (cold weather was a contributing factor to the Challenger disaster). During the 11-day flight, astronauts will add $172 million in upgrades to Hubble. (AP article)

NASA began the countdown on Monday for the upcoming launch the space shuttle Columbia on a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. If all goes well, Columbia will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center on February 28 at 1148 GMT (6:48am EST). Over the course of the 11-day mission, astronauts will carry out five scheduled spacewalks to install new hardware, including a new camera, solar wings, a power-control unit, and steering mechanism. Forecasters are expecting a 70% chance that the weather will be good enough for launch.

The space shuttle Columbia rolled out to the launch pad on Monday to prepare for the launch of STS-109; the fourth mission to retrieve and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. If everything goes smoothly, Columbia will lift off on February 28th, and rendezvous with the telescope in space. Over the course of the mission, shuttle astronauts will perform five spacewalks to install a new camera system, solar arrays, and power controller onto the aging space observatory.