STS-125 Shuttle Mission: Hubble Servicing Mission 4

01101001 · #1 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 05:34 AM

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Topic anticipating Hubble Servicing Mission 4: Hubble servicing mission 4 status

NASA Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 Overview

Launch target:
2008, October 7, 2234 PDT, Tuesday
2008, October 8, 0134 EDT, Wednesday
2008, October 8, 0534 UTC, Wednesday

115 days to launch
16 weeks and 3 days to launch

NASA Space Shuttle Mission Pages
NASA Mission Status Updates
NASA STS-125 Mission Information
NASA Mission Overview (may not be active yet)
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 Overview
Wikipedia: STS-125
NASA Launch Schedule
NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Countdown Status
NASA Shuttle Launch and Landing
NASA Shuttle Launch Blog (active about 6 hours before liftoff)
NASA Shuttle Landing Blog (active about 2 hours before touchdown)
CBS News Space Place
SpaceFlightNow STS-125 Mission Coverage (may not exist yet, will be sparse at first)
BAUT Forum topic STS-124 Space Shuttle Mission (previous mission)
NASA TV (or NASA TV Yahoo! source or high-resolution)

Swift · #2 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 01:11 PM

Great minds think a like (what's our excuse

). I was just going to start a STS-125 thread. Hard to believe we have to wait till October.

Amber Robot · #3 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swift

Hard to believe we have to wait till October.

Hopefully the launch pad damage won't delay it further.

banquo's_bumble_puppy · #4 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 04:23 PM

10 launches to go

01101001 · #5 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swift

I was just going to start a STS-125 thread. Hard to believe we have to wait till October.

The (STS-124) shuttle mission is dead. Long live the (STS-125) shuttle mission.

I just thought I'd grab my links from STS-124 before they went out of mind, tweak them for STS-125 and set up shop for the next launch. This topic probably won't see much action for a couple of months.

Just wait until the multiyear Constellation gap rolls around. Then finally there will almost be a whole, new generation becoming aware, never knowing the USA did manned launches.

Future discussion: "Do you want to be an astronaut when you grow up?" "Astronaut? What's that?"

Swift · #6 (**permalink**) 16-June-2008, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 01101001

Future discussion: "Do you want to be an astronaut when you grow up?" "Astronaut? What's that?"

"But I'm not Chinese!"

slang · #7 (**permalink**) 17-June-2008, 07:50 AM

Should this also be the place to talk about the contingency rescue mission? This wiki article is not very detailed, the references it gives are interesting though.

01101001 · #8 (**permalink**) 25-June-2008, 04:41 PM

NASA Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 Overview

Quote:

Space Shuttle Atlantis Undergoing Preparations in the Orbiter Processing Facility

The space shuttle Atlantis is undergoing preparations in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for its STS-125 mission, also known as SM4. It is in this facility where technicians configure the vehicle, the crew compartment and the cargo bay for flight. Atlantis' flight crew will participate in a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) inspection of the cargo bay in early July. Atlantis will be attached to the external fuel tank in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building in late August before the entire stacked vehicle is rolled out to Launch Pad 39A.

105 days to launch
15 weeks to launch

alainprice · #9 (**permalink**) 27-June-2008, 02:49 PM

I was reading the details of the spacewalks to be performed on Hubble and, well, WOW!

I hope it really does extend her life and restore the ACS. I also feel sorry for the crew of STS-125 as it will be cramped quarters.

crosscountry · #10 (**permalink**) 27-June-2008, 03:30 PM

is there a concise list of everything that will be done? I've seen a few things here and there but nothing all together.

Swift · #11 (**permalink**) 27-June-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crosscountry

is there a concise list of everything that will be done? I've seen a few things here and there but nothing all together.

I wouldn't call this a concise list, but this web page has lots of details. I'll try to pull out the main points:

- Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) : WFC3 is superior to WFPC2 in resolution and field-of-view.
- Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS)
- STIS: Astronauts installed STIS on Hubble in 1997 during Servicing Mission 2. STIS performed brilliantly until a power supply failure in 2004 caused it to stop working. The spacewalkers will replace a low voltage power supply board that contains a failed power converter.
- ACS: Installed during Servicing Mission 3B in 2002, the Advanced Camera for Surveys quickly became Hubble’s workhorse camera and was responsible for many of the most popular and dramatic images over the last few years. However, the science instrument recently experienced two separate power failures, one on each of its two redundant sides of electronics.
- Batteries: Spacewalking astronauts will replace all six of Hubble’s original 125-pound nickel hydrogen batteries, which provide electrical power to Hubble during its nighttime to support the telescope’s functions.
- Gyroscopes: All of the current gyros were installed in December 1999, and all are approaching the end of their limited lifetimes. Astronauts will install a fresh set of six new gyros
- Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS): A refurbished unit returned from the 1999 mission will replace FGS 2 on SM4. Only two units are needed to point Hubble; the third FGS provides additional target pointing efficiency and redundancy.
- Soft Capture Rendezvous System: To prepare for the end of Hubble’s life, engineers developed the Soft Capture and Rendezvous System, which will enable the future rendezvous, capture, and safe disposal of the telescope.

01101001 · #12 (**permalink**) 27-June-2008, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crosscountry

is there a concise list of everything that will be done?

I enjoyed this: Space Telescope Science Intstitute Newsletter: Overview of Servicing Mission 4 (PDF, 3.1 megabytes):

Quote:

One of the most challenging aspects of the STIS repair will be removing and safely securing the
111 fasteners that hold the electronics box cover in place. NASA has designed a special tool—a
“fastener capture plate,” or FCP—which will be attached to the existing cover. An astronaut will
use a hand-held electric driver to unscrew each fastener through a matching hole in the FCP, which
will then trap the loosened fasteners. The FCP and the electronics box cover can be removed
together, along with all the trapped fasteners.
Once the cover plate is removed, the astronaut will use other specially designed tools to remove
the circuit card with the failed component and insert its replacement. A new cover plate will be
installed and secured using two clamp-like latches instead of the 111 fasteners. A brief functional
and aliveness test will verify the functioning of the new circuit card and its electrical connections.
A backup replacement will be available in case there is a problem with the
first circuit card.

Etc., etc., etc.

(Such details are in an article within the newsletter, not the whole thing. Not all activities are detailed to this level.)

There's a flightplan at CBS News Space Place :: Flightplan, days and times, with one-line descriptions, little detail (example: "STIS Repair").

crosscountry · #13 (**permalink**) 27-June-2008, 06:05 PM

thanks guys!

01101001 · #14 (**permalink**) 16-July-2008, 05:34 AM

Launch target:
2008, October 7, 2234 PDT, Tuesday
2008, October 8, 0134 EDT, Wednesday
2008, October 8, 0534 UTC, Wednesday

84 days to launch
12 weeks to launch

matthewota · #15 (**permalink**) 16-July-2008, 06:39 AM

A ubiquitous accessory in the astronomy world to be added to the Hubble Space telescope:

yaohua2000 · #16 (**permalink**) 16-July-2008, 07:29 PM

There were 13 people in space at the same time from March 14 to March 18 in 1995. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight_records Hope everything goes as planned. The record number will be updated.

777 geek · #17 (**permalink**) 16-July-2008, 07:32 PM

Yay! They're going ahead with it!

crosscountry · #18 (**permalink**) 17-July-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaohua2000

There were 13 people in space at the same time from March 14 to March 18 in 1995. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight_records Hope everything goes as planned. The record number will be updated.

neat stats! This one caught my eye

Quote:

Valeri Polyakov, launched 8 January 1994 (Soyuz TM-18), stayed at Mir LD-4 for 437.7 days[1], during which he orbited the earth about 7,075 times and traveled 300,765,000 km, (186,887,000 miles) returned March 22, 1995 (Soyuz TM-20). This record has stood for 13 years, 112 days.

in all that time he did barely 1000 light-seconds.