Hubble Servicing Mission 3B
The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on
February 1, 2003 fills us with a deep sadness.
Our prayers are with the family of the crew of STS-107.
Mission Overview
This fourth mission to repair and upgrade the space telescope was on
the
Space
Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) install the following new
instruments/subsystems
(roughly in order of installation):
- Solar Array III with the Diode
Box
Controller.
To ensure adequate power to run the new science instruments, new arrays
will be needed. These rigid units are originally from the
Iridium
program, and have much higher output than the current floppy ones that
roll up.
- Power Control Unit. This
unit controls all the
power
that
flows from the arrays and batteries to the entire spacecraft.
A
fault
with the existing unit uncovered a few years ago requires the
replacement
of the PCU. The replacement of this unit requires the power
down
of the entire HST, something that has not been done in space before.
- Advanced Camera for Surveys.
This fabulous new
instrument
will offer ten times the discovery factor from any other previous HST
instrument.
- Reaction Wheel Assembly.
This sub unit provides
the
ability
for HST to orient itself without using propellants. One of
the
four
units experienced an anomaly several months ago, requiring its
replacement
at the eleventh hour.
- NICMOS
Cryo Cooler (with ARUBA).
HST's infra-red instrument has been dark for more than two years, and
this
super cooler will revive it.
- Other smaller items such as New Outer Blanket
Layer.
Those system on which I have worked feature links above.
Clicking
on them affords an inside look at their development. Of all
the
hardware,
the Cryo Cooler is the longest running one, dating back to the
HOST
mission in 1997. In some cases, the hardware
development
occurred
recently, such as in the case of the ARUBA. In any case,
after we
dedicate much time to building the flight hardware, we transition to a
phase to prepare for the Servicing Mission itself. This
involves
training the astronaut crew (who will work in space), and our entire
team
(who will work on the ground).
Preparation for the Mission
As part of this training, we have Mission Simulations (called 'sims'),
and Joint Integrated Simulation (called 'jis'). In the former
case,
it involves mainly the staff at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),
and in the latter case, it involves the entire team associated with the
mission, including the astronaut crew at the Johnson Space Center
(JSC),
sometimes in a water tank to simulate weightlessness. During
the
training, we go thru each mission day, calling each day by their
number.
Thus, the first day is called EVA1 (for Extra Vehicular Activity #1),
the
next is EVA2, etc. A separate team of simulation engineers
control
the data we see on our screens, and prepare problems and faults for us
to diagnose and repair. By working many of these 'fake'
mission
days,
we achieve proficiency at solving problems with the HST and the Space
Shuttle
in real-time when the real mission is underway.
During the third mission training at the Johnson Space
Center.
Kevin MacAveety sits to my left.
Compare this image to this
one,
which was shot just before SM3A at the end of 1999.
Another look at the CSR (Customer Support Room), where we will all
be located during the
Servicing Mission. This room is in the Mission
Control Center, which is often seen on television
during the missions.
At the Kennedy Space Center
After we built the hardware as described above, they are transported
via
truck to the Kennedy Space Center and housed at the Vertical Processing
Facility (VPF). The thumbnail below shows the panoramic
view.
For a QuickTime VR 360 degree walk-around, click below (QuickTime 3.0
or
later needed, available
here).
Click here for a 360 degree view with
QuickTime VR
(1.2MByte)
or
click here for a live streaming camera of the VPF (RealPlayer).
The Space Shuttle is assembled at the 525 foot high Vehicle
Assembly Building, one of the largest buildings in the
world.
An account of the visit is available here.
Note the many birds enjoying the updraft from the side of the
building.
Since Florida is very flat, this is as close to a mountain as it gets.
This picture shot by Mark Hubbard, to see how, click here.
The VAB sits at the end of a wide crawler way that is paved with river
rock. This rock gets crushed to sand after just
a few trips of the crawler. To see the crawler carrying the
Shuttle,
click here (previous
mission photo).
On January 24, there was an attempt made to roll out the STS-109 to
Launch Pad 39A, but a problem
with the steering mechanism caused a postponement.
A closer shot of the External Tank and the two Solid Rocket Boosters.
The wings of the Orbiter are just visible on the sides. Note
the people standing
around the left crawler treads that was the one with the problem.
Other Missions
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