Hubble Repair (STS-125) Mission Thread

[earth_bound_misfit]

Geez these time zones are a ******. All the cool stuff happens while I'm sleeping

 

[newsartist]

Geez these time zones are a ******. All the cool stuff happens while I'm sleeping

Some of us actually think it is quite nice to finally have a mission where the crew sleep period is the same as ours!

My clock radio goes off at the same time as their wake-up call, (but to news and not canned music.)

 

[star_sirius]

Yikes! I missed all the fun as well. I'm excited for HST, it's a new beginning, I'm alive again!!!

 

[Testing]

Geez these time zones are a ******. All the cool stuff happens while I'm sleeping

Some of us actually think it is quite nice to finally have a mission where the crew sleep period is the same as ours!

My clock radio goes off at the same time as their wake-up call, (but to news and not canned music.)

Copy that. I am out of the shower just before that grand lady astronaught sends up the music.
Got out early today and caught the last 3 minutes of the breifing.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Both guys on battery power at 8:49 AM EDT, EVA officially under way.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Got an internal chuckle when it was announced they were just off the coast of Somolia; beware of Pirates!!

 

[silylene]

Got an internal chuckle when it was announced they were just off the coast of Somolia; beware of Pirates!!

Heh, quite true! They are only 559 km from that den of thieves. Ships have been captured twice as far from the Somali coast as that.....of course, not in the z-axis.

 

[MeteorWayne]

LOL, yeah.

PS, nice to see the silylene name back, still eagerly awaiting the silylene_classic posts

 

[MeteorWayne]

They had a lot of trouble installing the second rate sensor. They decided to get the unit that was supposed to go into slot 1 and put it in slot 3 (the one they were working on). It was sucessful

They will now attempt to install the balky unit in slot 1.

Slowed things down a bit

Aliveness test underway....

 

[shuttle2moon]

When they install the capture device today on HST that will allow a "spacecraft" to grapple on to deorbit the HST at the end of its life, I wonder what spacecraft they are talking about.....I do not think the constellation could do such a thing...

The Constellation manned spacecraft could dock with the new docking adapter that was added to the Hubble.

Excellent news, SG. Missed your insight on this board. This means that we could send up the constellation to deorbit the HST and we will not have to rely on the Ruskies.

I have a prediction-that there will be a LEO variant of the constellation created that will have glider like tendancies like the shuttle currently does. The LEO variant will be used to go to the space station, and whatnot. The glider will be used when we need to flexibility of a landing site, that a splash down type of landing will not allow. Wings on a space vehicle are not required, but little stubs are ok-I would think that this would save money as well.

 

[Testing]

Have they been able to resolve the gyro issue yet?

 

[summoner]

From the UK Sun, there are some great shots here.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... 431157.ece

 

[rocketscientist327]

Have they been able to resolve the gyro issue yet?

Yes, but they are like 1 hour, 20 minutes behind the time line.

VR
RS327

 

[rocketscientist327]

Can't they just add an extra day in space?

I mean, what was the plan if they had to, God forbid, launch the rescue ship?

I would think, and I realize I am probably wrong, that they could add an additional spacewalk with the remaining tasks that were unable to be completed.

This is one of NASA's bright spots and I would hate to leave the Hubble less than perfect with good parts stowed in Atlantis instead of Hubble.

VR
RS327

 

[MeteorWayne]

Can't they just add an extra day in space?

I mean, what was the plan if they had to, God forbid, launch the rescue ship?

I would think, and I realize I am probably wrong, that they could add an additional spacewalk with the remaining tasks that were unable to be completed.

This is one of NASA's bright spots and I would hate to leave the Hubble less than perfect with good parts stowed in Atlantis instead of Hubble.

VR
RS327

No not really. They need to finish the job and get away to do the final inspection. Only then will they know for sure if a rescue mission is necessary. There are propellant issues, and once they start heading back, if a rescue mission is required, they'll need every bit of consumables to last until the rescue shuttle gets there. It's a risky mission, with brave people doing it. The margins are much smaller than anyone would prefer; they are just the reality for STS-125.

 

[rocketscientist327]

Thank you Sir Wayne.

 

[Testing]

EVA 1 Com and telemetry checks completed.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Good morning, testing. You beat me in today

 

[Testing]

Good morning Wayne,

Today and tomorrow I get to watch live. Excellent news that everything installed thus far is up and running.
When all is said and done Hubble is going to knock the World's socks off.
The ACS board change out should be the most technical task today.
Heard some people at work mention they had seen lead features on prime time news about the mission.
Shame that it takes a mission like this to do that again.
I can't wait till our part of Wfpc-2 comes home for examination after 16 years on orbit.

 

[3488]

Can't they just add an extra day in space?

I mean, what was the plan if they had to, God forbid, launch the rescue ship?

I would think, and I realize I am probably wrong, that they could add an additional spacewalk with the remaining tasks that were unable to be completed.

This is one of NASA's bright spots and I would hate to leave the Hubble less than perfect with good parts stowed in Atlantis instead of Hubble.

VR
RS327

No not really. They need to finish the job and get away to do the final inspection. Only then will they know for sure if a rescue mission is necessary. There are propellant issues, and once they start heading back, if a rescue mission is required, they'll need every bit of consumables to last until the rescue shuttle gets there. It's a risky mission, with brave people doing it. The margins are much smaller than anyone would prefer; they are just the reality for STS-125.

That's very true & Good Morning Wayne.

Use of every single drop of propellant & every other resourse on Atlantis has to be fully justified.

The heat shield inspection cannot be completed till after Hubble's refurbishment & all other EVAs are completed due to time constraints, though so far post launch analysis shows Atlantis to be in great shape & the heat shield undamaged aside from a few shallow dings & scrapes.

I am not worried with the information to hand concerning Atlantis's safe return & I personally think that STS 400 Endeavour will not be required.

We'll know much more, once Hubble has been released after the orbital reboost at the end of the refurbishment phase of the mission & the final inspection has been completed.

Andrew Brown.

 

[3488]

Good morning Wayne,

Today and tomorrow I get to watch live. Excellent news that everything installed thus far is up and running.
When all is said and done Hubble is going to knock the World's socks off.
The ACS board change out should be the most technical task today.
Heard some people at work mention they had seen lead features on prime time news about the mission.
Shame that it takes a mission like this to do that again.
I can't wait till our part of Wfpc-2 comes home for examination after 16 years on orbit.

Good morning Testing.

Yes I agree 100% with your post.

It is a tragic shame that it takes something like this to be a lead story. Science & technology has been dumbed down so much in the education of our young (in Britain certainly so) as Science is seen to be 'too hard' & 'uncool'.

It is IMO essential that ACS is fully restored & yes I hope too that WFPC2 will be fully analysed in the lab when returned. We know that WFPC2 remained fully operational right to the end, but it will still be interesting to see what those 16 years in space has done to it.

Andrew Brown.

 

[Testing]

Good morning Andrew,
Good to see you aboard

 

[3488]

Good morning Andrew,
Good to see you aboard

Thanks Testing.

It's great to be back following my recent spell of health problems. I am definitely on the rebound, though still feeling rather tired much of the time, do feel quite well otherwise.

Looks lilke the attempt to repair ACS is going ahead, apparently the most difficult EVA of the entire mission as well as the installation of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph .

From Spaceflightnow. Justin Ray.

1248 GMT (8:48 a.m. EDT)
The Lazy Susan-like ring holding Hubble in the payload bay is being rotated 90 degrees to provide better access for the astronauts' work today.

1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)
Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel are preparing for the most challenging - and uncertain - spacewalk of the crew's Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission: installation of a new spectrograph and the attempted repair of a broken camera that was not designed to be serviced in space.
Read our full story.

1225 GMT (8:25 a.m. EDT)
Suitup and preparations for today's spacewalk have been going well. Mission Control projects that depressurization of the airlock will begin ontime, leading to the EVA starting around 9:15 a.m.

0935 GMT (5:35 a.m. EDT)
The wakeup call has been sounded to the astronauts for the start of Flight Day 6. This is spacewalk day for John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel. The duo is scheduled to head outside around 9:15 a.m. to install the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument into Hubble and attempt repairs on the telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys.

From Spaceflightnow.com.

Andrew Brown.

 

[Testing]

Inner hatch closing. Go for depress.

 

[3488]

From Spaceflightnow. Justin Ray.

1335 GMT (9:35 a.m. EDT)
EVA BEGINS. The space shuttle Atlantis crew has started the third of five spacewalks to extend the scientific life of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel switched their suits from shuttle-provided power to internal batteries at 9:35 a.m. EDT, marking the start of this planned 6 1/2-hour EVA.

1334 GMT (9:34 a.m. EDT)
The airlock has reached vacuum and the hatch is open.

1322 GMT (9:22 a.m. EDT)
The 40-minute breathing of pure oxygen by the spacewalkers has been completed. Depressurization of the airlock has started.

Spaceflightnow.

Andrew Brown.