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Challenges Ahead In Final Hubble Servicing Mission
Hugh Pickens writes "Space shuttle Atlantis is slated to lift off Monday on the fifth and final servicing mission to Hubble with four mission specialists alternating in two-astronaut teams will attempt a total of five spacewalks from Atlantis to replace broken components, add new science instruments, and swap out the telescope's six 125-pound (57-kilogram) batteries, original parts that have powered Hubble's night-side operations for nearly two decades. 'This is our final opportunity to service and upgrade Hubble,' says David Leckrone, senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. 'So we're replacing some items that are getting long in the tooth to give Hubble longevity, and then we'll try to take advantage of that five- to 10-year extra lifetime with the most powerful instrumental tools we've ever had on board.' Some of the upgrades are relatively straightforward and modular: yank out old part, put in new. But they're big parts: The 'fine guidance sensors' sound delicate but weigh as much as a grand piano back on Earth. But what's different this time is that the astronauts will also open up some instruments and root around inside, doing Geek Squad-like repairs while wearing bulky spacesuits and traveling around the planet at 17,000 mph. 'We have this choreographed almost down to the minute of what we want the crew to do. It's this really fine ballet,' said Keith Walyus, the servicing mission operations manager at Goddard. 'We've been training for this for seven years. We can't wait for this to happen.'"
When you drive on the highway, if you are going 85mph passing a car going 80mph, you only really experience a 5mph velocity differential with that car. Given that both of you are traveling at similar speeds, maneuvering around each other should be relatively simple as you only have to gauge the distances with regard to the 5mph differential and not the 80mph absolute velocity.
Sure. But then, I rarely repair my car while driving down the road at 85 MPH, although you are pointing out that I could.
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No.
That would require a retrograde orbit, which noone uses.
Of course, if Hubble were in a polar orbit, this could happen. But it's not, so it won't.
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HST does not operate in the visible light range and images you see are colorized from data gathered from several instruments.
How's that again? I'm seeing that it handles wavelengths from 110nm (hard UV) to 1100nm, or maybe 2300nm, or maybe deeper IR than that. Visible (400-700nm) is smack in the middle of that range, and well-covered by the instrumentation.
If you aren't already, follow the mission on the nasa website http://www.nasa.gov/
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"or lets the astronauts engineer on the spot solutions."
Like the first time they serviced it, and couldn't get the damn doors closed without using a come-along strap.
(Yes, this happened)
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It's a very tricky thing to get to Hubble. It's orbit and inclination puts it in a position that takes roughly half of Shuttle's fuel to get to it. They burn a bit wrong, and they're screwed; or perhaps never get to Hubble in the first place.
Either way, if they get there, and have a Columbia-type event with foam / ice / etc, the ISS is not an option as a lifeboat - they couldn't get there with the amount of fuel they have.
This mission is as dangerous as it gets in Earth orbit (currently).
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As far as I know one of the goals is to attach a deorbit module to Hubble, which is needed to safely end its life, so there has to be this mission anyway.
Actually they are not attaching a full deorbit module, but a docking interface that can be used in the future for a deorbit module to grapple onto.
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
I don't understand why they don't grab Hubble and attach it to the International Space Station? It seems a waste to eventually let a great piece of equipment, into which so much money has been invested, to eventually just drift off into space/crash to earth.
Nice idea but it's physically impossible to do this with the shuttle. Even with no payload, the fuel required to shift the shuttles orbit when it's at Hubble to be able to rendezvous with the ISS is almost equal to the mass of the space shuttle itself. It simply can't be done. Thats why there's a second shuttle being prepped for launch in case there's a problem with Atlantis - the ISS cannot be used as a safe haven because it cannot reach it.
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
"There's some station-keeping to do, and the craft's overall health to monitor, but a lot of that can be done by autopilot."
Actually no it's not on autopilot. You don't want the attitude thrusters firing off when the astronauts are in the wrong place. Not that you may burn them, unlikely but you could. You can also contaminate them with fuel residue, those spacesuits aren't rubber you can hose off. Then also cause them to lose footing, lose tools etc. All maneuvers are very carefully choreographed when they are outside. It really is a team effort.