NASA outlines Hubble repair plans
Posted: Wed, Jan 9, 2008, 7:46 AM ET (1246 GMT)
A shuttle mission scheduled for launch next year will allow the Hubble Space Telescope to remain in operation for at least five more years, agency officials outlined Tuesday. The STS-125 mission, currently scheduled for launch in August, is the fifth and final shuttle mission to service Hubble, which was launched by the shuttle in 1990. Five spacewalks are planned to repair two instruments currently on the telescope and install two new instruments, as well as replace gyroscopes, batteries, and thermal blankets. The instrument upgrades will make the telescope 90 times as powerful as it was after the first servicing mission in 1993, which corrected the telescope's flawed optics. NASA did warn that the repair mission could be pushed back because delays launching the next shuttle mission would have a ripple effect on other missions on the manifest.
A shuttle mission scheduled for launch next year will allow the Hubble Space Telescope to remain in operation for at least five more years, agency officials outlined Tuesday. The STS-125 mission, currently scheduled for launch in August, is the fifth and final shuttle mission to service Hubble, which was launched by the shuttle in 1990. Five spacewalks are planned to repair two instruments currently on the telescope and install two new instruments, as well as replace gyroscopes, batteries, and thermal blankets. The instrument upgrades will make the telescope 90 times as powerful as it was after the first servicing mission in 1993, which corrected the telescope's flawed optics. NASA did warn that the repair mission could be pushed back because delays launching the next shuttle mission would have a ripple effect on other missions on the manifest.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, March 21
Canadian Space Agency cancels lunar rover mission
CBC — 9:20 am ET (1320 GMT) Maritime Launch Introduces Interim Finance Leadership at Key Growth Inflection Point
CNW Group — 9:17 am ET (1317 GMT) Second company plans Shetland rocket launch this year
BBC — 9:16 am ET (1316 GMT) ‘Incredibly important’: Canada moves towards homegrown rocket launches
CTV — 9:16 am ET (1316 GMT) ISRO’s alarming reality: 129 pieces of Indian space junk are now orbiting Earth, posing collision risks and raising global concerns
The Times of India — 9:15 am ET (1315 GMT) |
