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STS-125

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STS-125
COSPAR ID2009-025A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.34933Edit this on Wikidata

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4) is the current space shuttle mission and the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).[3][4] Launch occurred on May 11, 2009 at 2:01 p.m. EDT.[2][5][6] The mission is being flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis, with another shuttle, Space Shuttle Endeavour, ready to launch in case a rescue mission is needed. Due to an anomaly aboard the telescope that occurred on September 27, 2008, STS-125 was delayed until May 2009 to prepare a second data handling unit replacement for the telescope.[7][8][9]

Atlantis is carrying two new instruments to the HST, a replacement Fine Guidance Sensor, and six new gyroscopes and batteries to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014.[4] The crew will also install new thermal blanket layers to provide improved insulation, and a "soft-capture mechanism" to aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.[10][11]

The mission is the thirtieth flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis, the first flight of Atlantis since STS-122, and the first flight of Atlantis not to visit a space station since STS-66 in 1994.[2][12] It is the only shuttle mission since the Columbia accident to not visit the International Space Station.[2]

Endeavour is ready on launch pad 39B for immediate flight on the Launch On Need (LON) rescue mission throughout STS-125 should the need arise.[13] Atlantis was cleared officially of any damage during ascent on flight day five, but due to the difference between the orbit of the International Space Station and that of the HST, the orbiter would be unable to use the station as a "safe haven" in the event of micrometeoroid damage or other major failure. Should any issues arise during the final days of the mission, Endeavour would be flown to rescue the crew if needed.[14][15]

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Crew notes

The crew of STS-125 includes three astronauts who have previous experience with servicing Hubble.[16][17] Altman visited Hubble as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission, in 2002. Grunsfeld, an astronomer, has serviced Hubble twice, performing a total of five spacewalks on STS-103 in 1999, and STS-109. Massimino served with both Altman and Grunsfeld on STS-109, and performed two spacewalks to service the telescope.

Mission parameters

Mission payload

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in the cleanroom
The Wide Field Camera 3 being prepared for launch.

STS-125 will carry the "Soft-Capture Mechanism" and install it onto the telescope.[18] This will enable a spacecraft to be sent to the telescope to assist in its safe de-orbit at the end of its life. It is a circular mechanism containing structures and targets to aid docking.[16]

The mission will add two new instruments to Hubble. The first instrument, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, will be the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph installed on the telescope.[16][19] Its far-UV channel will be 30 times more sensitive than previous instruments and the near-UV will be twice as sensitive. The second instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3, is a panchromatic wide-field camera that can record a wide range of wavelengths, including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.[16]

The infrastructure of the telescope will be maintained and upgraded by replacing a "Fine Guidance Sensor" that controls the telescope's directional system, installing a set of six new gyroscopes, replacing batteries, and installing a new outer blanket layer to provide improved insulation.[16]

The payload bay elements are the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC) holding the Wide Field Camera 3, new batteries, and a radiator; the ORU Carrier with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and FGS-3R instruments; the Flight Support Structure (FSS) for holding the Hubble during repairs; and the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier (MULE) holding support equipment.

Along with the collectible items that are flown on shuttle missions, such as mission patches, flags, and other personal items for the crew, is an official Harlem Globetrotters basketball, as well as a basketball that Edwin Hubble used in 1909 when he played for the University of Chicago.[20][21] Once the mission returns to Earth, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball will be placed in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Hubble's ball will be returned to the University of Chicago.[20]

IMAX movie

At the end of September 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX Corporation announced that in cooperation with NASA, an IMAX 3D camera will travel to the Hubble telescope in the payload bay of Atlantis for production of a new film that will chronicle the story of the Hubble telescope.[19] IMAX has made a number of movies centered around space, including Destiny in Space, The Dream Is Alive, Mission to Mir, Blue Planet, Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, and the first trip of IMAX to the ISS in 2001, to make Space Station 3D.[19][22]

Media

Astronaut Michael J. Massimino has been using Twitter to document the training and preparations for the mission. He mentioned that he would like to try sending Twitter updates from space during his off-duty time.[23] Massimino's first update read, "From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"[24] He is the first person to use Twitter in space.[25]

Mission background

Prince Philip of the United Kingdom visited Goddard Testing Facility in May of 2007, and met with the crew of STS-125.

The mission marks:[12]

  • 157th American manned space flight
  • 126th shuttle mission since STS-1
  • 30th Flight of Atlantis
  • 101st post-Challenger mission
  • 13th post-Columbia mission

STS-125 was originally scheduled to be ISS assembly mission ISS-1J. The mission would have delivered the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and JEM's specialized Remote Manipulator System to the station. Columbia was originally planned to fly the fifth Hubble mission, as Columbia was not the optimum orbiter for ISS assembly due to the weight of the orbiter.

STS-125 will be the first visit to the Hubble Space Telescope for Atlantis; the telescope has been previously serviced twice by Discovery, and once each by Columbia and Endeavour.

Shuttle processing

Atlantis and Endeavour are launch pad neighbors for the last time, in preparation for STS-125.
The RSS retracts to reveal Atlantis at LC-39A

Following the Columbia accident review, the Return to Flight missions, and the reinstatement of the Hubble repair mission, STS-125 was assigned to Discovery, with a launch date no earlier than May 2008.[26] This originally moved the mission ahead of STS-119, ISS Assembly flight 15A.

The crew of Atlantis went to the Kennedy Space Center for the Crew Equipment Interface Test in early July 2008. This allowed the STS-125 crew to get familiar with the orbiter and the hardware they would be using during the flight.

Launch delays

On August 22, 2008, after a delay following Tropical Storm Fay, Atlantis was rolled from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it was mated to the external fuel tank and solid rocket booster stack. Problems encountered during the mating process, and delays due to Hurricane Hanna delayed rollout to the pad, which is normally done seven days after rollover.[27][28]

STS-125 was further delayed to October 2008 due to manufacturing delays on external tanks for future space shuttle missions. Lockheed Martin experienced delays during the production changes to make new external tanks with all the enhancements recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, making it impossible for them to produce two tanks for the STS-125 mission—one for Atlantis, and one for Endeavour for an emergency rescue mission, if necessary—in time for the original August launch date.[29]

The first rollout to Launch Pad 39A occurred on September 4, 2008. On September 27, the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SIC&DH) Unit on the Hubble Space Telescope failed.[4] Because of its importance, NASA postponed the launch of STS-125 on September 29 until 2009 so the failed unit could be replaced as well.[4] Atlantis was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on October 20.

On October 30, 2008, NASA announced that Atlantis would be removed from its solid rocket boosters and external tank stack and sent back to its Orbiter Processing Facility to await a targeted launch time at 1:11 p.m. EDT on May 12, 2009.[7] The stack was turned over to be used on the STS-119 mission instead. On March 23, Atlantis was mated to its new stack in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Roll-out to launch Pad 39A took place on March 31.[30]

On April 24, 2009, NASA managers issued a change request to move the STS-125 launch up one day to May 11 at 2:01 p.m. EDT. The change was made official at the flight readiness review on April 30.[31] The reason cited for the change was to add one more day to the launch window from 2 to 3 days. The shuttle process flow schedule was adjusted to support this change.[31]

Mission timeline

Wikinews has related news:
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on STS-125 from Kennedy Space Center

May 11 (Flight day 1, launch)

Following a smooth countdown, Atlantis launched on time, at 2:01 p.m. EDT.[2][5] Almost immediately after launch and during the ascent, flight systems reported problems with a hydrogen tank transducer and a circuit breaker; the crew was immediately advised to disregard the resultant alarms and continue to orbit.[32] During the post-launch news conference, NASA managers said the initial early review of the launch video showed no obvious debris events, but a thorough analysis would be performed to ensure the orbiter sustained no significant damage during ascent.[33] After working through their post launch checklists, the crew opened the payload bay doors, deployed the Ku band antenna, and moved into the robotic activities portion of the day, which included a survey of the payload bay and crew cabin survey with the orbiter's robotic arm.[34][33]

During the post-launch inspection of Pad 39A, a twenty five foot area on the north side of the flame deflector was found to have damage where some of the heat resistant coating came off.[35] Following the launch of STS-124, severe damage was seen at the pad where bricks were blasted from the walls, but NASA officials stated the damage from the STS-125 launch was not nearly as severe and should not impact the launch of STS-127 in June.[35]

May 12 (Flight day 2)

The silhouette of Atlantis in orbit transits the Sun, as seen from a ground-based solar telescope, in Florida.

Following the morning wake up call, the crew set right to work on the day's tasks, which were centered on inspection of the orbiter's heat shield. Using the shuttle robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), the crew went through a detailed inspection of the orbiter's thermal protection system (TPS) tile and Reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) surfaces. During the inspection, engineers on the ground noticed a small area of tile on the forward area of the shuttle's right wing that appeared to have suffered some damage during ascent.[36][37] Mission managers called up to the crew to alert them of the find, advising Altman ("Scooter") that one of the orbiter's wing leading edge sensors recorded a debris event during ascent, around 104 - 106 seconds following liftoff, which may have been the cause of the damage seen in that area.[37] CAPCOM Dan Burbank advised the crew that the damage did not initially appear to be serious, but assured the crew that the image analysis team would be reviewing the imagery further, and engineers on the ground would be analyzing it to determine if a focused inspection would be required.[37]

As part of the Flight Day 2 Execute Package, ground engineers also provided further information on the circuit breaker failure seen at launch.[38] The breaker, (Channel 1 Aerosurfaces, ASA 1), is part of the shuttle's Flight Control Systems (FCS), a subsystem of the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems. The failure would have no impact to the mission due to redundant systems.[38]

In addition to the survey of the orbiter's heat shield, the crew gathered and inspected the EVA tools and spacesuits that would be used for the mission's spacewalks, and prepared the Flight Support System (FSS) for berthing with Hubble on flight day three.[39]

May 13 (Flight day 3)

Hubble docked in the cargo bay of Atlantis.
John Grunsfeld uses a still camera with telephoto lens at an overhead window on the aft flight deck during flight day three activities.

Following the crew's post-sleep activities, they went to work performing the rendezvous operations that included burning the orbiter's engines to refine the approach to the Hubble telescope.[40][41] Following some delays due to communications issues, Altman and Johnson ("Ray-J") guided the orbiter within fifty feet of the telescope.[41] McArthur successfully grappled Hubble at 17:14 UTC, and at 18:12 the telescope was safely berthed in the payload bay of Atlantis.[40][41] Later in the day, Grunsfeld and Feustel ("Drew"), along with Good ("Bueno") and Massimino ("Mass") worked on preparing for the next day's spacewalk, gathering tools and checking out the suits and equipment that would be used during the EVA.[40]

At the Mission Management Team (MMT) briefing, MMT Chairman LeRoy Cain reported that the damage assessment team had cleared all of the orbiter's TPS tiles and blankets, and were expected to clear the RCC portion of the orbiter by flight day four.[40] He stated that no focused inspection would be required.[42] Cain also noted that a debris event was recorded on the orbiter's wing leading edge sensors, but it was far below the force that would indicate a problem, and would not impact the mission.[42] The late inspection that is routinely performed prior to re-entry would give any additional information, but Cain stated "We're not concerned that it's done any kind of damage that would be any concern to us, certainly not critical damage."[42]

During the Mission Status briefing, Lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci noted that during the camera survey of the equipment in the payload bay, the team noticed some fine particulate matter around the box containing the Wide Field Camera 3, and asked the crew to take additional images using a higher resolution camera for the ground teams to assess.[42] Cain later confirmed that the dust was not present prior to launch, and was most likely particulate shaken loose from the thick insulation blankets inside the payload bay during launch.[42] The team advised the crew to avoid the particulate as much as possible during the spacewalks, and use caution when working around the container to avoid the debris, but it was not a significant concern.[42]

May 14 (Flight day 4)

Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld, performing his sixth spacewalk, is reflected in the Hubble telescope's coating as he works during the mission's first EVA.

Following the crew's wake up, they set to work preparing for the mission's first spacewalk. Grunsfeld and Feustel suited up with the assistance of their EVA counterparts, Massimino and Good, and the spacewalk officially began when the two switched their suits to battery power at 12:52 UTC.[43] At the start of the spacewalk, Feustel provided managers on the ground with a visual inspection report on the particulate matter seen earlier around the WFC3 box, reporting to the ground team that "I don't really see any of those particles...It's almost imperceivable. I can see some few particles on the front of the W-SIPE, little, whitish, grey looking, real small. It's low density, too."[44] After getting their tools and equipment for the EVA set up, Grunsfeld and Feustel removed the old Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, which was installed in 1993 during the telescope's first servicing mission, and replaced it with the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).[43][10] Feustel initially had trouble removing the bolts from the old camera, which after over fifteen years in space required more torque to remove than expected. After multiple attempts, managers on the ground decided to have Grunsfeld get a contingency torque limiter from the airlock, which would allow Feustel to apply more force without exceeding a specific point, but the bolt would still not release.[43] The concern was that the bolt would shear, and the camera would be unable to be removed should that happened.[43] Finally, managers approved Feustel to remove the limiter, and apply as much force as he safely thought it would take to release the bolt, which was successful.[43]

The new camera will allow Hubble to take large-scale, extremely clear and detailed photos over a wider range of colors than the old camera did.[10] After the installation, controllers at the Space Telescope Operations Control Center at Goddard Space Flight Center sent commands to the camera to perform an "aliveness" test, which passed, indicating the camera was installed correctly.[44][11]

The next task was to remove and replace the telescope's Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH, a computer that sends commands to Hubble’s science instruments, and formats science data for transmission to the ground.[10] This was the item that failed in September of 2008, delaying STS-125 while engineers prepared a replacement part for the mission, and the crew trained for the new task.[10] While the failure of the SIC&DH did not disable the telescope, replacing the unit restores the redundancies.[10][11] The final major task was to install the Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM), a seventy-two inch wide grapple fixture that will allow spacecraft in the future to dock with the telescope, and de-orbit it safely at the end of its life.[10][11] Feustel also installed two of four Latch Over Center Kits, or LOCKs, that make opening and closing Hubble’s large access doors easier for the remaining spacewalks.[10] The spacewalk officially ended at 20:12 UTC, for a time of seven hours and twenty minutes. It was the nineteenth spacewalk devoted to servicing the telescope, and brought the total time in servicing Hubble to 136 hours, 30 minutes.[43] Due to the length of the spacewalk, and the delay in beginning, the crew was over an hour behind their scheduled timeline for the day, but worked through the post-EVA activities and evening activities without problems, and got to sleep only slightly behind their scheduled time. During the mission status briefing, David Leckrone, Hubble Project Senior Scientist, noted he was very relieved that the camera was replaced successfully, and noted that the problems with the bolt caused some concern, "I don't normally reveal my age and I'm not going to here, but I can tell you I'm five years older now than I was when I came to work this morning, we can sleep pretty well tonight, knowing that's been accomplished."[43]

May 15 (Flight day 5)

Mission Specialists Michael Good (right) and Michael Massimino (lower left) work in the payload bay of Atlantis during the mission's second spacewalk.
Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, STS-125 Lead Spacewalk Officer, monitors the progress of the mission.

Following their wake up, the Atlantis crew set right to work preparing for the second spacewalk of the mission, with Massimino and Good suiting up with assistance from Grunsfeld and Feustel. As they were preparing for the EVA, the team on the ground informed the crew that the WFC3 had passed all the overnight "functional" tests, indicating it was in good working order.[45]

While the spacewalk preparations were underway, Altman and McArthur completed a robotic survey of a small row of heat shield tiles that had not been sufficiently imaged during the day two inspection. Following the analysis of the survey, the managers cleared all of the TPS systems until the pre-landing inspection.[14]

The mission's second spacewalk officially began at 12:49 UTC, and the pair set to work removing and replacing the telescope's three gyroscope rate sensing units (RSUs). Each unit contains two gyroscopes that allow the telescope to point itself.[14] The first unit, RSU 2, was replaced without problems, but when they attempted to replace the second unit, RSU 3, the unit would not align onto the guide pins, and they could not seat it into the equipment bay.[46] Managers decided to put the unit originally intended for the RSU 1 bay into the RSU 3 bay, and it was installed without problems.[46] The pair then attempted to install the second unit into the third and final bay, but the unit again would not seat properly, and they were unable to install it.[46][47] Instead, it was decided that an additional unit carried as a spare would be placed into the final bay.[46] The spare unit was one that was removed during the STS-103 mission, and had been refurbished on the ground.[46][48] The installation of all three gyro units was a critical objective of the servicing mission, as three had failed, one was offline due to electrical issues, and the other two had also been experiencing issues with performance.[48] Ground controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center confirmed that all six gyroscopes and the new battery passed preliminary tests.[14]

The problems with seating the second RSU set the spacewalkers back in the timeline by approximately two hours, but after Altman asked Massimino and Good how they felt, they replied they were doing well and felt fine to continue.[49] Flight controllers on the ground evaluated the consumables for the two spacesuits, and decided that if Massimino recharged his suit's oxygen in the airlock, the pair could safely continue with the battery installation.[49] After moving to the battery unit site, Good and Massimino removed one of the original battery modules from Bay 2 of the telescope, and replaced it with a new unit.[14] The batteries provide power to the telescope when it passes into the Earth’s shadow and its solar arrays are not exposed to the sun.[14] The spacewalk officially ended at 20:45 UTC, for a time of seven hours, fifty six minutes.[50] It was the twentieth spacewalk to service Hubble, bringing the total time in EVA servicing the telescope to 144 hours, 26 minutes.[50]

During the mission status briefing, Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, Lead EVA Officer, and Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch both explained that the spare RSU would not impact the life of the telescope, as it had been fully refurbished on the ground with two of the three improvements incorporated in newer models.[48] "I would say the difference in the projected longevity of the observatory in the out years is very small. We don't see this is a significant detriment at all to the observatory. This was a tremendous accomplishment for us." Burch noted.[48] Lead Flight Director Tony Ceccacci noted that due to the length of the spacewalk, and the resulting slip in the timeline, the crew's sleep shift would have to be moved an hour later, to allow them to get the proper amount of rest, and the rest of the docked timeline would also be shifted forward an hour.[14]

May 16 (Flight day 6)

Grunsfeld and Feustel pose for a picture in the airlock of Atlantis prior to the mission's third spacewalk.

After awakening, the crew set to work preparing for the mission's third spacewalk, one that was considered the most challenging and uncertain, yet had some of the highest priority items scheduled.[51][52] The tasks were to remove the failed Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), originally installed during STS-61 to correct the spherical aberration of Hubble's mirror, and install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), and to repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).[51][53][54] The ACS failed in June of 2006 due to an electrical issue, and after being restored partially, failed again in 2007 due to an electrical short.[51] The ACS was not designed to be serviced or repaired in space, so the task was considered one of the most challenging of the mission.[51] After running into various snags in the first two spacewalks, managers on the ground were prepared to see unexpected issues arise during the complicated repair work.[55] The spacewalk began at 13:35 UTC, and Grunsfeld and Feustel had no problems. The pair worked through their timeline so efficiently that they were over an hour ahead at one point.[55] After removing COSTAR and stowing it in the orbiter's payload bay, they installed COS, and then moved on to the ACS repair. Using specially designed tools, they removed an access panel, replaced the camera's four circuit boards, and installed a new power supply.[54][55]

The spacewalk was completed in six hours and thirty-six minutes, and the ACS passed the initial "aliveness" tests.[55] It was the twenty-first Hubble servicing spacewalk, and Grunsfeld's seventh EVA, moving him up to fourth in the the record book of spacewalking time.[56] During the previous day's mission status briefing, Dave Leckrone, Hubble Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist, made a prediction, joking that since the first two spacewalks, which were considered to be straightforward, had run into issues, the most difficult EVA —- to repair the ACS, would be the smoothest one of the mission. "I have a prediction, We've always said EVA 3 was going to be the most difficult and the most challenging, and I predict it's going to go more smoothly than any other EVA on this mission. I just think that's some version of Murphy's Law that's going to lead us in that direction."[55]

After the initial aliveness testing, the ACS was put through its functional tests. Managers and engineers had noted that the repairs were designed for only one of the three photo channels, the wide-field channel, and that the issues with the high-resolution channel may not be resolved by the designed fix.[57] During the functional testing, the wide-field channel passed, but issues were seen with the high-resolution channel, indicating that the power issue may be farther "upstream" in the electronic circuits than the spacewalk repair addressed.[57][58] Additional testing would be performed, but Hubble Program Manager Preston Burch noted that the fix was designed to "back power" the high-resolution channel through the paths connected to the wide-field channel, and while feasible, it was a possibility that the short circuit damage was in an area not corrected with the planned repair.[57] Even if the high-resolution channel is unable to be restored, it was considered to be less important, since the bulk of the ACS science output is undertaken by the wide-field channel.[59][58] The third channel, the solar-blind channel, passed overnight functional testing without issues.[59][58]

May 17 (Flight day 7)

Mission Specialist Michael Massimino peers into the orbiter's aft flight deck window during the fourth spacewalk of the mission.

Beginning the mission's fourth spacewalk at 13:45 UTC, Massimino and Good went to work repairing the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The spectrograph failed in 2004 due to a blown power supply.[59] As with the ACS, the STIS was not designed with the intention of servicing it while in space, and one of the major challenges was to remove a cover plate held tight with over 100 screws using a specially designed tool called a "fastener-capture plate", designed to trap the screws and washers and prevent them from floating into space when removed.[59] While preparing the fastener-capture plate, Massimino encountered issues with a handrail that had to be removed to accomodate the fastener-capture plate.[60][61][62] The handrail had a stripped bolt on the bottom, preventing it from being released.[61][62] After trying multiple options without success, managers on the ground advised Massimino to use "brute force" to remove the handrail, so he could proceed with the removal of the cover plate.[61][63] The procedure was tested at Goddard Space Flight Center prior to approving it, and showed that the stripped bolt could be broken off safely using force.[63] Working inside the orbiter, Grunsfeld walked Massimino through the procedure slowly, advising him to tape the handrail with Kapton tape to prevent any parts from breaking off or flying loose, to be aware of the reaction the force would have, as well as to watch for sharp edges on the handrail after removal.[63]

Once the handrail was removed, Massimino went to work attaching the capture plate, but ran into additional problems when the battery in one of his power tools failed.[64] Massimino was instructed to return to the orbiter's airlock to retrieve a spare tool and to recharge his suit's oxygen reserves, to allow for completion of the STIS repair.[64] The rest of the STIS repair work was completed without any problems, but the spacewalkers were nearly two hours behind the scheduled timeline, so managers on the ground decided to postpone the task of installing a New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL) onto the telescope's outer shell.[61] The spacewalk, originally scheduled to last six hours and thirty minutes, ended at 21:02 UTC, for a time of eight hours and two minutes, making it the sixth longest spacewalk in history.[61] It was the twenty second spacewalk devoted to servicing the Hubble telescope, and Massimino's fourth spacewalk, bringing his total EVA time to thirty hours, forty four minutes.

During the mission status briefing, Jennifer Wiseman, Chief of Exoplanet and Stellar Astrophysics for Goddard Space Flight Center, noted that the repair of STIS was a major victory for both the mission and the science community, as that part of the telescope performed unique functions, helping scientists understand the materials planets are composed of, and looking at things like the motion of stars around black holes.[52][61][65]

After initial aliveness testing that showed no issues, STIS was taken into functional testing, and issues were seen when the telescope put itself into "safe mode" due to a low thermal limit sensor.[61][60][64] Ground controllers at Goddard would restart the testing once the thermal limit sensor was back in normal sensor range, but it is believed the component is in good shape.[61]

May 18 (Flight day 8)

As Arthur C. Clarke says, the only way of finding the limits on the possible, is by going beyond them into the impossible. And on this mission, we tried some things that many people said were impossible - fixing STIS, repairing ACS, achieving all the content that we have in this mission. But we've achieved that and we wish Hubble the very best. It's really a sign of the great country that we live in that we're able to do things like this on a marvelous spaceship like the space shuttle Atlantis. And I'm convinced that if we can solve problems like repairing Hubble, getting to space, doing the servicing we do traveling 17,500 miles an hour around the Earth, that we can achieve other great things, like solving our energy problems and our climate problems, all things that are in the middle of NASA's prime and core valves.[66] —- John L. Grunsfeld

Completing the fifth of the five planned spacewalks, Grunsfeld and Feustel successfully installed the second battery, removed and replaced the Fine Guidance Sensor number three, and worked so efficiently that they were over an hour ahead of the timeline, giving them time to remove degraded insulation panels from three bays of the telescope, and install three New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL)s.[66] Beginning the spacewalk at 12:20 UTC, the pair first worked on removing an aging battery module, and replaced it with a new pack, which combined with the battery replacement performed during the second spacewalk, gave the telescope all new nickel-hydrogen batteries.[66] They then moved on to the removal and replacement of the Fine Guidance Sensor unit number three, improving Hubble's focus and stability when imaging.[53] NASA engineers liken the new FGS to being able to keep a laser beam focused on a U.S. dime coin that is 320 km away.[53] Both the new batteries, and the FGS passed aliveness, and functional testing. The mission's final EVA concluded at 19:22 UTC, after seven hours and two minutes.[67] The total time spent during the mission in extra-vehicular activity was thirty six hours, fifty six minutes.[67] The twenty third and final spacewalk to service Hubble brought the total time spent in EVA working on the telescope to one hundred and sixty six hours, six minutes.[67]

The completion of all the major objectives, as well as some that were not considered vital, upgrade the telescope to its most technologically advanced state since its launch nineteen years ago, and make it more powerful than ever.[68] The upgrades will also help Hubble to see deeper into the universe, and farther into the past, closer to the time of the Big Bang.[69] Hubble's importance to science is not just seen in the dramatic images it provides, but also in the volume of work it has generated — an average of fourteen scientific articles are published each week based on data gathered from the telescope.[69] Officially, the upgrades should extend Hubble's life through the year 2014, but Hubble Space Telescope Senior Scientist David Leckrone noted prior to the mission that if all of the mission's objectives were successful, the telescope could easily last longer than that.[68] The next large telescope scheduled to be launched is the James Webb Space Telescope in 2014, which is infrared-only, so to have Hubble, which has ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared capabilities, still operational after 2014 would be of great benefit to the scientific community.[68][70]

Extra-vehicular activity

Five back-to-back EVAs were planned for the mission.[34] Spacewalks one through four were originally scheduled to last six hours, thirty minutes, while the fifth spacewalk was scheduled to last five hours, forty five minutes.[34] All five EVAs were conducted successfully, for a total time in EVA activity of thirty six hours, fifty six minutes.[34][71][67]

EVA # Spacewalkers Start (UTC) End (UTC) Duration
EVA 1
 John M. Grunsfeld
Andrew J. Feustel 		May 14
12:52 		May 14
20:12 		7 hours, 20 minutes
Replaced the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC/2) with Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC/3), replaced the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, lubricated three of the shroud doors, and installed a mechanism for spacecraft to capture Hubble for de-orbit at the end of the telescope's life (Soft Capture Mechanism).[43][10][72]
EVA 2
 Michael J. Massimino
Michael T. Good 		May 15
12:49 		May 15
20:45 		7 hours, 56 minutes
Removed and replaced all three of Hubble's gyroscope rate sensing units (RSUs). Removed and replaced the first of two battery unit modules.[14][50]
EVA 3
 Grunsfeld
Feustel 		May 16
13:35 		May 16
20:11 		6 hours, 36 minutes
Removed COSTAR, stowed it for return; installed the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in its place; removed four faulty electronics cards from the Advanced Camera for Surveys and replaced them with a new electronics box and cable. EVA extended due to problems removing a handrail, and power tool issues, making the spacewalk the sixth longest spacewalk in history.[55][56]
EVA 4
 Massimino
Good 		May 17
13:45 		May 17
21:47 		8 hours, 2 minutes
Removed and replaced an electronics card for the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).[52][61]
EVA 5
 Grunsfeld
Feustel 		May 18
12:20 		May 18
19:22 		7 hours, 2 minutes
Replaced the final battery module, installed Fine Guidance Sensor No. 3, removed degraded insulation panels from bays 8, 5 and 7, and installed three New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL)s in their place, and removed and reinstalled a protective cover around Hubble's low-gain antenna.[73]

Wake-up calls

A tradition for NASA human spaceflights since the days of Gemini is that mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[74][75]

Contingency mission

Main article: STS-400

Due to the inclination and other orbit parameters of Hubble, Atlantis would be unable to use the International Space Station as a "safe haven" in the event of structural or mechanical failure.[26][76] STS-400 is the flight designation given to the Contingency Shuttle Crew Support (CSCS) mission which would be launched in the event Atlantis becomes disabled during STS-125.[13]

To preserve NASA's post-Columbia requirement of having shuttle rescue capability, a second shuttle was on Launch Pad 39B at the time of STS-125's launch. This imposed a constraint on deactivation and conversion of LC-39B for the upcoming test flight of the Ares I booster for Project Constellation. NASA earlier had investigated whether it would be possible to use the same pad to launch both STS-125 and STS-400.[77]

NASA has had contingency rescue missions on standby for all nine flights conducted between the Columbia accident, and STS-125, but all of the other rescue missions use the International Space Station as a "safe haven", and would require only an expedited roll-out of a shuttle stack and checkout on LC-39A, which is not slated for conversion for the Ares V until the Shuttle is retired in 2010.

See also

Media

References

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