{"id":9665,"date":"2023-12-01T18:04:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T22:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/hubble-celebrates-30th-anniversary-of-servicing-mission-1\/"},"modified":"2023-12-01T18:04:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T22:04:25","slug":"hubble-celebrates-30th-anniversary-of-servicing-mission-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/hubble-celebrates-30th-anniversary-of-servicing-mission-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1<\/h2>\n

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6 min read<\/p>\n

Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"An<\/figure>
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Astronaut F. Story Musgrave works in the space shuttle Endeavour\u2019s cargo bay while the solar array panels on the Hubble Space Telescope are deployed during the final Servicing Mission 1 spacewalk.<\/div>\n
NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the pre-dawn hours on Dec. 2, 1993, the space shuttle Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a critical mission to repair NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hubble was designed to be serviced in space with components that astronauts can slide in and out of place. But prior to launch, no one expected the first servicing mission to be of such urgency.<\/p>\n

For three years, Hubble had been the punchline of late-night comics and editorial cartoons: the telescope that couldn\u2019t see straight. Since its deployment in 1990, the telescope had been beaming blurry images back to Earth, the result of a flaw in the shape of its primary mirror. Though the mirror was off by only one-fiftieth the width of a human hair, the error had devastating consequences: the light from the mirror didn\u2019t focus quite right. While the images were still better than those taken from Earth and science was still possible, their quality was not what the world expected.<\/p>\n

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The sense that you got was everybody was looking at the servicing and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope as the mission that could prove NASA\u2019s worth \u2026 There was this overarching focus and pressure on the success of this mission.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Richard<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Richard Covey<\/p>\n

Servicing Mission 1 Astronaut<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Servicing Mission 1<\/a> was the solution. Aboard the shuttle were the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), along with other critical components to upgrade the telescope. WFPC2, responsible for the telescope\u2019s visually impactful images, had built-in corrective optics to compensate for the mirror flaw and would replace the Wide Field\/Planetary Camera that Hubble launched with. COSTAR was a refrigerator-sized component containing a constellation of mirrors, some only the size of a U.S. nickel, intended to correct and redirect light to the telescope\u2019s other cameras and spectrographs.<\/p>\n

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Astronaut Kathryn C. Thornton grips a tool to perform servicing mission tasks on the Hubble Space Telescope during the fourth spacewalk of Servicing Mission 1.<\/div>\n
NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The shuttle\u2019s crew of seven astronauts was aware that not only Hubble\u2019s fate was on their shoulders, but the public perception of NASA and its space program as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Hubble repair is a failure, we can write off space science for the foreseeable future,\u201d John Bahcall, the late astrophysicist who advocated for the telescope and a member of its science working group, told the New York Times in 1993.<\/p>\n

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Credit: NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Grace Weikert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Dec. 2, 2023, NASA commemorates the 30th anniversary of Servicing Mission 1 and its success in transforming Hubble into one of NASA\u2019s greatest triumphs: a shining example of human ingenuity in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n

During one of the most complex spacewalking missions ever attempted, astronauts conducted five extravehicular activities, totaling over 35 hours. They removed the High Speed Photometer instrument to add COSTAR and swapped out the original Wide Field\/Planetary Camera for the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. They also installed other critical components to upgrade the telescope.<\/p>\n

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The crew of Servicing Mission 1 poses for a portrait on the space shuttle. In the front row from left to right are Swiss scientist Claude Nicollier, mission specialist; Kenneth D. Bowersox, pilot; and Richard O. Covey, mission commander. In the back row are the spacewalkers on this flight: F. Story Musgrave, payload commander; Jeffrey A. Hoffman, mission specialist; Kathryn D. Thornton, mission specialist; and Thomas D. Akers, mission specialist.<\/div>\n
NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

At 1 a.m. on December 18, 1993, about a week after the mission had ended, astronomers gathered around computers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore to witness the first new image from the telescope: a star, shining clear and pristine in the image without the hazy effects of Hubble\u2019s flawed mirror. The new images were so dramatically different that even though the telescope needed around 13 weeks for adjustment to reach its full capabilities, NASA released them early. \u201cIt\u2019s fixed beyond our wildest expectations,\u201d said Ed Weiler, Hubble chief scientist during SM1, at a January 1994 press conference.<\/p>\n

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The look on people\u2019s faces as this picture came up \u2013 this was an old [cathode ray] tube-type TV. It took a while for it to build up, but it got clearer and clearer and clearer. Everybody starts shouting.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Ed<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Ed Weiler<\/p>\n

Hubble chief scientist during SM1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Images of spiral galaxy M100 show the improvement in Hubble\u2019s vision between Wide Field\/Planetary Camera and its replacement instrument, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.<\/div>\n
NASA, STScI<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who had advocated diligently for Hubble, was the first to show off the new images to the public at the Jan. 13 press conference. \u201cI\u2019m happy to announce today that after its launch in 1990 and some of its earlier disappointments, the trouble with Hubble is over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Sen. Barbara Mikulski displays a picture showing the difference between a star image taken before COSTAR\u2019s installation and the same star after Servicing Mission 1 during the Jan. 13, 1993 press conference announcing the success of the mission.<\/div>\n
NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Though Servicing Mission 1 is best remembered for its resolution of Hubble\u2019s blurry vision, it accomplished a host of additional tasks that helped transform the telescope into the astronomical powerhouse it remains today.<\/p>\n

By the time Servicing Mission 1 launched, the telescope\u2019s gyroscopes \u2013 delicate pieces of equipment required to steer and point Hubble \u2013 were already breaking down. Three of the six gyroscopes, or gyros, aboard Hubble had failed. The other three \u2013 typically kept as backups \u2013 were in operation, the minimum number needed to keep Hubble collecting science data. Astronauts replaced four gyroscopes, a fix that would help keep the telescope running smoothly for several years.<\/p>\n

Early in Hubble\u2019s time in orbit, NASA discovered that the telescope\u2019s solar arrays would expand and contract excessively in the alternating heat and cold of space as the telescope traveled in and out of sunlight, causing them to vibrate. This forced engineers to use Hubble\u2019s computing capacity to compensate for the \u201cjitter\u201d and reduced observation time. Astronauts replaced Hubble\u2019s solar arrays with new versions that brought the natural jitter down to acceptable levels.<\/p>\n

Astronauts also performed an augmentation whose vital importance would become clear a year later: upgrading Hubble\u2019s flight computer with a co-processor and associated memory. Just weeks before the disintegrating comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in 1994, Hubble went into a protective \u201csafe mode\u201d due to a memory unit problem in the main computer. Engineers were able to use that co-processor\u2019s memory to fix the problem, capturing stunning images of the gas giant being pummeled by comet fragments.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tHubble Memorable Moments: Comet Impact<\/span>
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\n\t\tFind out more about Servicing Mission 1 and its accomplishments<\/span>
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Servicing Mission 1\u2019s impact echoed far beyond Hubble. The mission was a showcase for tasks that could be done in space, proving humanity\u2019s ability to perform highly complex work in orbit. The lessons learned from training for Hubble and from the servicing work itself would be built upon for other astronaut missions, including the four subsequent servicing visits to Hubble between 1997-2009. These additional missions to Hubble would enable the installation of new, cutting-edge instruments, repair of existing science instruments, and the replacement of key hardware, keeping Hubble at the forefront of astrophysics exploration.<\/p>\n

Further, the lessons learned from Servicing Mission 1 were a guiding force for work on the International Space Station, and for missions yet to occur. \u201cA lot of the knowledge that was developed there transferred directly to construction of the International Space Station and it\u2019ll transfer to the things we do with [the future orbiting lunar space station] Gateway someday,\u201d said Kenneth Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Space Operations Mission Directorate, who was also astronaut on Servicing Mission 1. \u201cAnd it\u2019ll apply to things we do on the Moon and in deep space, going to Mars and beyond. It all links.\u201d<\/p>\n

To celebrate Servicing Mission 1, NASA is releasing a series of videos<\/a> over the next two weeks featuring key players \u2013 astronauts, scientists, engineers, and more \u2013 as they reflect on the struggles and triumphs of that time, as well as the emotional and personal impact that Hubble and SM1 had on their lives. Follow @NASAHubble on X<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, and Facebook<\/a>, or go to nasa.gov\/hubble<\/a> to watch as the series kicks off this weekend.<\/p>\n

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