This is the series of emails I sent to my family and friends for a behind the scenes look at our mission. Date: Mon, 06 Dec 1999 12:07:12 -0500 Subject: Greetings from Kennedy Space Center Agnes, the kids and I are back here at KSC on another shuttle mission. When we left here last year, we did not expect to be back this soon. This unscheduled visit is because there currently is a pretty big problem with the Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched with six good gyroscopes, and over the years they have failed one by one until last june, we only had three good ones left. This quantity is the minimum needed for HST to do observations. Because of the criticality of Hubble on the scientific community, NASA decided to arrange a quick repair mission to repair the gyros this past October. However due to problems with the Shuttle fleet (wiring and engines), we have been delayed until December. I am hoping we can finally get this mission over with because the holidays coming, we have plans to return home to Aruba to see Mom. Currently, the mission is scheduled for 1 in the morning on Dec 11, but rumors are that this date will not hold. Anyway, last month we finally had the fourth gyro fail. This means that with only two good ones, HST cannot point properly. The vehicle sensed this problem and automatically entered 'Safe Hold'. This is where it points the solar arrays at the sun, and sits and waits until help arrives. HST can stay in this attitude indefinitely. This mission culminates six months of hectic work by our team at Goddard to prepare the new hardware for replacement. We are taking this opportunity to replace more than just gyros. Some of these instruments we flew on the test mission last year (STS-95, the 'John Glenn' mission). Our team is ready, we are just sittin' around waiting for our ride up. We are staying in Cocoa Beach again, and it feels like familiar. Our room is now on the fourth floor facing the ocean. The sight is quite different than can be seen in Aruba because the sunrise is over the beach. So every morning we awake with a spectacular sight with the sun streaming in thru the clouds and the waves crashing into the beach. The quality of the beach itself is not as good, but you can't really tell that from four floors up. Yesterday, we went to Disney World for the first time this trip. It is sort of a warmup to another trip we will be making next year with Lydia and her family. Disney World is normally tons of fun, but this time they have added special Christmas and new-Millenium events and decorations. Places like the Germany pavilion in Epcot look like a little dream Christmas village, and we had a really good time. Lydia, bring lots of money because a six-day pass is now $275! Last year, we were able to buy a one-year resident pass for $150, which has unfortunately expired by now. Take care, and send me email! Vacation:http://redrival.com/dr_ed/album/disney99/disney99.htm Mission :http://www.mindspring.com/~dr_ed/job/sm3a/sm3a.htm ABC news:http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/hubble991115.html ______ Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 11:39:25 -0500 Subject: Launch Day at Kennedy Space Center After more than two months of delay, we have finally arrived at launch day! We are all very excited and can't wait to finally get to work after months of preparations. After launch, Agnes and the children will be returning home to Maryland, and I go to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas to work the mission. As soon as the shuttle clears the launch pad, mission control passes from KSC to JSC. There will thus be a mass exodus from the launch site to the mission ops site. For this purpose, our management has arranged for two NASA planes that will transport our team members. I have decided to decline taking this plane and will be flying commercial air instead. This is because Agnes will be leaving that day, and she will be needing help with the rental car and children at the Orlando airport. It would have been interesting to fly 'Air NASA', but I wouldn't want Agnes to have to manage everything herself. This delay has been actually great for us to have some vacation time in central Florida. We have gone to the theme parks as often as we can, and the great weather here really puts you in a vacation mood. We were able to buy season tickets, and we have been going without hesitation. For a nominal mission, and a launch on the 16th, the shuttle would not land until the day after Christmas. Normally this would mean that we would be working all the way till landing. I had also planned on flying back to KSC to see the landing of the Shuttle. However, a portion of our team has been allowed to go home as soon as the Shuttle releases the Space Telescope after it has been repaired. I have been fortunate to be allowed to be part of that group, and will be traveling home on Christmas eve. I can thus spend Christmas at home with Agnes and the kids. Yes! During the mission, I will be working the 'planning shift'. This occurs when the astronauts are asleep. Our shift replans the next day's activities such as the space walks and what tests need to be run. Unfortunately, I will not get to see the astronauts live, doing the work on the Space Telescope. That would be very exciting. Another bad part is that I will be starting work at 10 at night until 10 in the morning! This is going to be very rough. Every time there is a delay, a new launch time is calculated. This directly leads to new shift times. At one point, planning shift worked during the day and space walks were at night. The current launch window has the space walks during prime time TV, and we work at night. The Hubble project has 14 busses going to our VIP launch viewing site tonight. Launch will be at around 9pm, and we are having our final launch party at three today. Then at six we board the buses and go see the launch. More pictures Vacation:http://redrival.com/dr_ed/album/disney99/disney99.htm Mission :http://www.mindspring.com/~dr_ed/job/sm3a/sm3a.htm ______ Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 01:50:08 -0500 Subject: Finally on our way to service HST Well after an additional two more delays since my most recent email, we have finally launched and started the mission. Launch time was at 7:51pm so it was still a night launch, but at a convenient time for the kids. When we arrived in Florida, the window was at Dec 11 at 4 in the morning. That would have been very difficult and tiring for the kids However due to the daily slip, and because we have to catch Space Telescope, launch time is recalculated every day. In the end, we ended up with a very convenient time of 7:51pm. We arrived at our viewing site inside KSC about one hour before launch. Everyone was excitedly walking around, and the atmosphere was one of anticipation. Before we knew it, we were at Tee minus six seconds I could see the 'sparklies' that ignite the main engines come to life, then at Tee minus three, the mains are lit and you see the big puff of steam obscure the orbiter. Finally at zero, the solids are ignited and the shuttle rises majestically out of the steam cloud. Only when the shuttle is about 45 degree elevation does the sound finally reach us. We were about 6 miles out, so about 42 seconds later. When the shuttle is on the launch pad, the entire assembly (external tank, two solid rocket boosters and the shuttle) is held by just eight massive bolts. This means that even after all five engines are blasting away, the shuttle is still bolted down by these eight bolts. Just after SRB ignition, these eight bolts are blown up simultaneously, and the shuttle leaps off the pad with 7million pounds of thrust (3 from each SRB, 1 from the three main engines). Before engine ignition, the weight of the shuttle causes the whole spacecraft to lean over in the direction of the shuttle. However after the mains are lit, the whole assembly creaks over as the shuttle is straining at the bolts that hold it down. As a result the tip of the external tank moves by as much as 10 inches. Finally the explosive bolts are detonated, and the shuttle is freed. Just before ignition, a 300,000 gallon tank of water is emptied in a fine mist all over the Mobile Launch Pad. This provides for sound suppresion to protect the launch pad and shuttle and some cooling. The whole tank empties out in about 3 seconds. I have heard that the whole process is initiated by a crank that looks like the flush handle of a toilet.....well ok I am kidding. After launch Agnes and the kids left for Maryland, and I am here at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. We will be working here for the next few days. Usually we would all stay here until the shuttle lands in Florida on Dec 26, but management has allowed a group to leave as soon as the Shuttle releases Hubble after servicing. I have been allowed to go home, and will be flying home on Christmas day. My shift starts at nine at night until nine in the morning. This will be hard, but I have done it before for other missions, and we have had a few days of relaxation in Florida. Unless there is something interesting, I will not write again. I hope all of you have a great Christmas and new Millenium. Hubble: http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov Vacation:http://redrival.com/dr_ed/album/disney99/disney99.htm Mission with launch picts :http://www.mindspring.com/~dr_ed/job/sm3a/sm3a.htm PS:I would like to close todays letter with a special astronomical event that will be occuring in two days. The moon will be really bright. It hasn't been this bright for 133 years, and will not be this bright in another 100 years. Take this opportunity on Wednesday to see it! -------- To: all_hst_announce@hst.nasa.gov Subject: Something to look forward to on December 22, 1999 In laymen's terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more than the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years! Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendants 100 or so years from now will see this again. **** This year will be the first full moon to occur on the winter solstice, December 22nd, commonly called the first day of winter. Since a full moon on the winter solstice occurs in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth), the moon will appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth). Since the Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of the year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger making it brighter. Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming. If the weather is clear and there is a snow cover where you live, it is believed that even car headlights will be superfluous. On December 21st 1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this combination of occurrences and staged a devastating retaliatory ambush on soldiers in the Wyoming Territory. > This year the Winter Solstice, December 22 -- the longest night of the year, > will be extremely special. This is because the solstice will coincide with a > Full Moon. Ah, but not just any Full Moon. The Moon will be within a few > hours of its perigee, its closest point to the Earth. This will make the > Moon appear to be about 14% bigger than usual. However, it is also only ten > days from the Earth's perihelion, its closest point to the Sun. Since the > Moon shines with reflected sunlight, then the moon will appear 7% brighter > than usual. > > These events occurring together are extremely rare. This is probably the > biggest, brightest moon of the Millenium as well as its last. That makes it > a rare night indeed so check with your local astronomy clubs and pagan > centers to find out what special events are planned. Whatever you do, get > out and look at the sky. You will never see a Moon like this again, even if > the world does not end seven days later. > > December 22 > Winter solstice is at 2:44 a.m. EST > The moon is at perigee (221,614 miles from Earth), 5:55 a.m. EST > Full moon is at 12:31 p.m. EST > > > PS: > Don't miss it, Friends! > EST : East Stand Time (12 hours before) ______ Date: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 05:59:02 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas to everyone Christmas Eve, and we have finished all our space walks. It has been a great mission, with Hubble getting healthier and healthier each day. I write this from Mission Control, and since there are no more space walks, we have no work to do. The voice intercom system used by the Shuttle and the NASA centers is unusually quiet, and we are getting a little silly, joking around after a successful mission. On occasion, the Shuttle and HST pass over the Johnson Space Center, and if the sun is in just the right spot, you can see them both passing overhead. They are visible as a very bright star passing overhead traveling extremely fast. Well that happened tonight on Christmas Eve. We were told it was about to happen, and we rushed outside. After a few minutes, we saw a very bright object moving from the west to the east. Since we had a lot of astronomers with us at Mission Control, I was able to find out that the Shuttle passed between Jupiter and Saturn (both looking like bright stars). It seemed very appropriate seeing that on Christmas Eve. As you may know, one of the new pieces of hardware installed is a new computer. This is a thoroughly tested 486 computer. Although not the most up-to-date, it is much more powerful than the old computer. It is rumored that the HST has a new logo on its side. I have heard that it reads : 'Intel Inside' (ok just kidding). I will be flying back home Christmas morning right after my 12 hour shift. I will be sleeping well on the plane. In this way, I am able to save half my Christmas day. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a great new year..... no, new century...... no, new milenium!