William Atkins
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 07:02
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 3
UPDATED: The Space Shuttle Atlantis will roll out of its Vehicle Assembly Building on Saturday, August 30, Tuesday, September 2, 2008, in preparation for its crew’s repair and service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, the fifth and final such mission for NASA to the space telescope.
According to the August 28, 2008 media release, the rollout of the space shuttle Atlantis was delayed by three days to accommodate additional work needed to be performed on Atlantis.
During the 11-day STS-125 mission—which is officially called the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 (HST-SM4)—the crew will fly to an average orbit of 320 nautical miles (570 kilometers), with a perigee of 302 miles (486 kilometers) and apogee of 359 miles (578 kilometers), and with an inclination of 28.5 degrees.
These parameters will allow the Atlantis crew to rendezvous with Hubble.
During this visit to Hubble, the crew will perform five spacewalks, to install two new instruments in Hubble, as well as replace the Fine Guidance Sensor (which controls the directional system of the telescope), install six new gyroscopes and batteries, and install an improved insulation blanket.
The two new instruments being installed are the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, a very sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph, and the Wide Field Camera 3, a panchromatic wide-field camera that records in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Completion of the servicing and repairing mission will allow six science instruments to perform with capabilities beyond those now available on Hubble. The servicing mission will also allow scientists to use the telescope at least through the year 2013.
The STS-125 astronauts will also install a Soft-Capture mechanism to Hubble. At the end of the usefulness of Hubble, an unmanned spacecraft will be sent to Hubble to safely guide it through the Earth’s atmosphere where it will be destroyed.
STS-125 will be crewed by seven NASA astronauts. Please read on.
