Hubble Servicing mission STS-125

[Rick]

The final mission to service the Hubble space telescope has slipped deeper into next year, Nasa has announced.

Officials said the delay would give engineers extra time to prepare a spare control unit needed to replace one that broke on the observatory last month.

Hubble was taken offline for four weeks by the failure but has since been re-booted using a back-up system.

Meanwhile Nasa said the space shuttle Endeavour would launch on 14 November to the International Space Station.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7701211.stm

[Rick]

NASA has announced that the space shuttle Atlantis's STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope will finally blast off on 12 May next year.

This final servicing jaunt to the venerable eye in the sky was delayed by the failure back in September of Hubble's operational data handling unit. NASA booted up a redundant back-up, but knocked back Atlantis's launch while it put together a spare for installation on STS-125.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/05/hubble_mission/

[Rick]

Space shuttle Atlantis will trundle its way to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A next Tuesday, in preparation for its much-delayed STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The vehicle, complete with external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, will travel atop a crawler-transporter for the 3.4 mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad. The trip will take around six hours, NASA estimates.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/26/atlantis_roll_out/

[Rick]

Space shuttle Atlantis yesterday morning arrived at Kennedy Space Centre's Launch Pad 39A, having taken around five hours to trundle the 3.4 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The spacecraft is slated to blast off on 12 May on STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. This final 11-day servicing trip, aka "Servicing Mission Four", will feature five space walks during which the crew of seven will "will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and replace other Hubble components".

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/01/altantis_launch_pad/

[Rick]

NASA astronaut Mike Massimino has been indulging in some light Twittering ahead of his upcoming trip to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mission specialist Massimino's modest number of updates have to date attracted almost 18,000 followers keen to keep up to speed on what's happening with "Astro_Mike".

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/09/twittering_astronaut/

[Rick]

Expect "shock and awe in science" from a repaired and upgraded Hubble Space Telescope.

This is the prediction from a Nasa astronomer who has worked on the mission since its inception.

If all goes completely to plan on Hubble Servicing Mission 4, the orbiting observatory will be reborn as the most productive telescope in history, with even greater powers to probe the Universe's deep history and help cosmologists make sense of one of their biggest problems - "dark energy".

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8040982.stm

[Rick]

The space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off on an ambitious and risky mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.

Atlantis ducked through clouds as it roared up at 1901 BST (1401 EDT) from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Nasa managers have packaged a complex series of repairs and upgrades into five six-and-a-half-hour spacewalks.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8044041.stm

[Rick]

An inspection of the space shuttle Atlantis has uncovered some "minor" damage to the vehicle's right side, Nasa officials say.

Atlantis appears to be in good overall shape, but Nasa engineers in Houston are still studying the 53cm (21in) line of chips on the shuttle's right side.

More analysis will be needed to assess whether another inspection is needed.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8046219.stm

[Rick]

Space shuttle Atlantis has reached the Hubble telescope, orbiting at a height of 560km (350 miles) over the Earth.

The shuttle crew completed a delicate dance of manoeuvres intended to align Atlantis' robotic arm with the telescope during their approach.

The arm was used to get hold of Hubble and draw it into the shuttle's bay.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8048687.stm

...and El Reg's version: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/14/hubble_grapple/

...and a rather cool photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/3532145692/

[Rick]

Two shuttle astronauts have begun the first of five spacewalks to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel left the airlock of the Atlantis orbiter just before 1300 GMT, to work on tasks that could take almost seven hours.

The pair will try to fit a new instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3, which will allow Hubble to see deeper into space than ever before.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8050133.stm

[Rick]

Astronaut Mike Massimino has the dubious honour of being the first person to Twitter from space, having taken time from the space shuttle Atlantis STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to share this tweet with mankind:

   

From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!

[Rick]

Two shuttle astronauts have completed the first of five spacewalks to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel spent almost seven hours working on the observatory, and achieved all of their primary objectives.

Chief among these was the installation of a new instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3, which will allow Hubble to see deeper into space than ever before.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8050133.stm

Quote: The spacewalkers tried a number of different tools; but when they failed to move the bolt also, mission control authorised the astronauts to use as much force as possible.

[Rick]

Astronauts have completed the most critical repair to the Hubble Space Telescope after a long struggle.

Mission specialists Mike Good and Mike Massimino put a refurbished pair of gyroscopes into the telescope after a new set refused to go in.

Besides the gyroscopes - to orient it precisely - Hubble got fresh batteries to ensure five more years of life.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8052169.stm

[Rick]

Astronauts upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope have made a third spacewalk in as many days to make repairs deep inside the orbiting observatory.

Mission chief mechanic John Grunsfeld delved into the interior of Hubble to replace computer circuitry that was never meant to be repaired in space.

He was joined by Andrew Feustel to install a new $88m (£58m) spectrograph.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8054055.stm

[Rick]

Space shuttle astronauts have embarked on the fifth and final spacewalk to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mission specialists John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel have replaced three batteries, so that Hubble now has a brand new complement.

They have also replaced one of the telescope's three fine-guidance sensors which keep the telescope's gaze precisely fixed for observations.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8056186.stm