Shuttle fuels for launch, weather near perfect

[cosmictraveler]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Fueling has started on space shuttle Atlantis for its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis is poised to blast off just after 2 p.m. Monday for NASA's last visit to Hubble.

The 19-year-old observatory needs new batteries, gyroscopes, cameras and other equipment. NASA hopes to keep the telescope operating for another five to 10 years.

Scientists say once the work is completed, the 19-year-old Hubble will be able to peer deeper into the cosmos and collect an unprecedented amount of data.

Forecasters put the odds of acceptable weather conditions for launch at 90 percent, about as good as it gets. Only a slight chance of rain is expected at the emergency landing site in Spain.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090511/ap_on_sc/us_shuttle_hubble;_ylt=AvEctrxiC8TD.tfxkc8yVgEPLBI F

[Walter L. Wagner]

Thanks for the update. Let's hope it goes smoothly. I'm looking forward to the improvements. So when do we start planning for the next serviceable telescope, without use of the old Shuttles? The one to be parked 1,000,000 miles further out from the sun won't be serviceable; and it's not being designed for the same frequencies.

[cosmictraveler]

So when do we start planning for the next serviceable telescope

There aren't going to be any more "serviceable" telescopes made for being launched into space. All of the new ones being made or designed are not being made with any servicing plans for them. If they break, they are done for. To bad.:(

[cosmictraveler]

20 minutes to launch!

Watch it now ....

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[Walter L. Wagner]

"temporarily unavailable"

Other sites show launch was flawless.

[cosmictraveler]

Yes, all went perfectly. Now let us hope they can get the job done they went up there for. This is a very complex mission to say the least and many problems can happen.

[cosmictraveler]

Looks like the shuttle is in very good shape after the exam they gave it.

[MacGyver1968]

Wow...has it really been 19 years since they launched Hubble?...my how time flies.

[cosmictraveler]

With this new upgrade the Hubble Telescope will last at least 5 more years but they think it will even go on for 10 more years. There are other space telescopes now like...

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

and the next one...

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

which will be in operation by 2014.

[mikenostic]

Looks like the shuttle is in very good shape after the exam they gave it.
It still blows my mind that disaster can result from even the tiniest thing going wrong....from start to finish.
It was good to hear that the launch was successful. Here's to a safe descent.

[cosmictraveler]

It still blows my mind that disaster can result from even the tiniest thing going wrong....from start to finish.
It was good to hear that the launch was successful. Here's to a safe descent.

Don't forget that the space shuttle was traveling at over 13,000 MPH! That's very fast and any little thing that goes wrong could easily cause a disaster. Just turning the shuttle a little the wrong direction at that speed could destroy it. :(

[cosmictraveler]

They finally have the telescope in the payload bay, now they can begin repairing it.

[MacGyver1968]

Now..that's one technician job I wouldn't want to have! Working in 0g! I heard there was some minor damage to the space shuttle, but it's not too severe.

[draqon]

minor damage to the space shuttle, but it's not too severe.

Space Shuttle Atlantis..."minor damage"

A trail of dings stretches about 21 inches along the right side of Atlantis, where the wing meets the fuselage. Officials say it may have come from bits of foam that broke off during launch.

the recent Space Shuttle Columbia....disaster:

The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation ... broke off the Space Shuttle external tank (the main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS), which protects it from heat generated with the atmosphere during re-entry.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/6153/125034mainetfoamloss.jpg
<NASA>

[cosmictraveler]

Space Shuttle Atlantis..."minor damage"

the recent Space Shuttle Columbia....disaster:

Thank you for having such a positive outlook on this mission. Do you always like to inject negative crap about a positive thing that is going on?

[cosmictraveler]

They are now saying that it will take over 3 months to get the first images from Hubble after they repair it. That seems to be a rather long time. I wonder why it will take that long, anyone know? :shrug:

[draqon]

They are now saying that it will take over 3 months to get the first images from Hubble after they repair it. That seems to be a rather long time. I wonder why it will take that long, anyone know? :shrug:

mmm...the satellite needs so many repairs, I wouldnt be surprised that its batteries are having issues, perhaps solar cells are not up to the task anymore.

Than of course an idea comes to mind that during those months Hubble will be used to study some stellar...:rolleyes: secretively, of course thats just a conspiracy theory.

Anyways on the official account:

If the refurbishments are successful, Hubble should be back in service in two to three months with an observation program even more ambitious than what it has accomplished since its debut in 1990.

I suspect the nickel hydrogen batteries are at fault here. Also its gyroscopes are failing...it works on two now and not three, perhaps it will take that long to stabilize itself properly during those months. In fact they are replacing all six gyros now, during this mission.

One of the two remaining gyros in operation is fairly new, but a second has operated for about four years, and the reserve gyro has run for about 6.5 years. The shuttle servicing mission - now scheduled for launch on 10 September 2008 - will replace all six gyros. But if for some reason they all fail before that, the telescope will naturally stabilise itself gravitationally so the shuttle can safely capture it for repair.

Plans for the servicing mission include an ambitious series of five spacewalks. Core priorities in addition to gyro replacement include replacing Hubble's two 230-kilogram batteries, and installing two new instruments - the Cosmic Origins Spectrometer and the Wide Field Camera 3.

If astronauts complete those essential fixes, they will turn to fixing Hubble's highest-resolution instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, and a second out-of-commission instrument, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, which in August 2004. Now only two instruments are operating on the telescope - the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer.

[fedr808]

mmm...the satellite needs so many repairs, I wouldnt be surprised that its batteries are having issues, perhaps solar cells are not up to the task anymore.

Than of course an idea comes to mind that during those months Hubble will be used to study some stellar...:rolleyes: secretively, of course thats just a conspiracy theory.

Anyways on the official account:



I suspect the nickel hydrogen batteries are at fault here. Also its gyroscopes are failing...it works on two now and not three, perhaps it will take that long to stabilize itself properly during those months. In fact they are replacing all six gyros now, during this mission.

Or heres a better idea. The first three months are testing.

They are going to take tons of pictures of galaxies hubble has photoed before and compare them to make sure that the hubble is working. Than hubble will photograph them and amx out its instruments and see how much better the new images are than the other.

Thats why it would be out of business for three months, it is being used, its just taking photos of things weve already photographed to calibrate the system.

[draqon]

yeah calibration of software seems like the probable cause.

[MacGyver1968]

Does anyone know what the Hubble uses to re-position itself? Seems like rockets would run out of full to quickly.

[PieAreSquared]

http://hubble.nasa.gov/technology/pcs.php

[PieAreSquared]

Atlantis....she took some dings??

wings- fuselage meet up?

[cosmictraveler]

Well, they are now starting the actual repairs of the telescope on NASA TV. http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[fedr808]

Does anyone know what the Hubble uses to re-position itself? Seems like rockets would run out of full to quickly.


Its interesting that you ask that.

Its called conservation of i think angular momentum i just learned about it in physics

Basically what happened is our physics teacher sat this girl in a spinning chair, and than took this wheel in the middle of this rod with ball bearings, ran it across a table and got it spinning.

He gave it to the girl so that the wheel was horizontal and the rod was vertical, when turned one direction the girl actually spun in the chair (at a decent rate) clockwise and when she flipped it over she stopped and rotated counter clockwise.

So basically what they have is a wheel on the hubble that gets spun by motors and it is set in one of those devices in rings (like the one at the carnival with 3 sets of rings that spin you around) and depending on what rotation it want the rings adjust the position of the wheel.

So essentially it is an energy efficient way to rotate the telescope without using rockets. cool huh?

[MacGyver1968]

Its interesting that you ask that.

Its called conservation of i think angular momentum i just learned about it in physics

Basically what happened is our physics teacher sat this girl in a spinning chair, and than took this wheel in the middle of this rod with ball bearings, ran it across a table and got it spinning.

He gave it to the girl so that the wheel was horizontal and the rod was vertical, when turned one direction the girl actually spun in the chair (at a decent rate) clockwise and when she flipped it over she stopped and rotated counter clockwise.

So basically what they have is a wheel on the hubble that gets spun by motors and it is set in one of those devices in rings (like the one at the carnival with 3 sets of rings that spin you around) and depending on what rotation it want the rings adjust the position of the wheel.

So essentially it is an energy efficient way to rotate the telescope without using rockets. cool huh?

Cool! Thanks for the explanation!

[fedr808]

http://hubble.nasa.gov/technology/pcs.php

Yah, check out this link by pie, if you look at the middle ring where the solar panels connect to, you will see a door opened with two discs, those are the wheels.

[cosmictraveler]

All seems to be progressing just fine. Great job being done by everyone involved with this mission.

[nietzschefan]

Good ol Canadarm.

[fedr808]

Good ol Canadarm.

>.>, thats on the space station, not the shuttle I believe. Wrong.

[D H]

Right. The Shuttle has a robotic arm, also built by Canada, and it was the predecessor of the ISS's robotic arm.

[cosmictraveler]

Well, another workday for them again. Only one more day to go and everything is going along smoothly.

[fedr808]

Right. The Shuttle has a robotic arm, also built by Canada, and it was the predecessor of the ISS's robotic arm.

I thought the shuttles arm was different and built in the us?

And the Canadarm was built significantly differentely with actually two sets of claws on the back and front and more joints so that it could caterpillar its way across the ISS, although I dont know if they had done that yet.

And also, if the worst happens and the Endeavour has to go up. How do they evacuate the astronauts? do they have some sort of a tube?

[PieAreSquared]

although they are repairing the Hubble, there are plans for a new space telescope

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/about.html

[D H]

I thought the shuttles arm was different and built in the us?
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=canadarm+1

[madanthonywayne]

I heard on the radio the guy working on the Hubble today will need to undo over 100 screws. Imagine keeping track of 100+ screws in zero G.

[Janus58]

I heard on the radio the guy working on the Hubble today will need to undo over 100 screws. Imagine keeping track of 100+ screws in zero G.

I just saw a special on the Hubble that answered this. They have a device that catches the screws as they are removed. It is basically a cover that bolts over what you are removing the screws from, each screw is caught in its own little compartment as they are unscrewed.

Here's an image of an astronaut practicing with one in the under water tank:

http://www.sciencenews.org/pictures/092708/hubble/hubble_repair_zoom.jpg

[cosmictraveler]

Well they ran into a problem but fixed that with brute strength! He just yanked that latch right off! It took them longer because of that hang up but they finished all but one task, another good job! They hope to do what they didn't finish today, tomorrow, so all will be done as expected.

[cosmictraveler]

They have done a fantastic job up there! Now to come home , back down to Earth on Friday.

[draqon]

geee Cosmic aren't you taking it a bit too personal. I mean in some future not long to await, astronauts will be abound in space doing regular tasks any folks on Earth would be doing.

[cosmictraveler]

geee Cosmic aren't you taking it a bit too personal. I mean in some future not long to await, astronauts will be abound in space doing regular tasks any folks on Earth would be doing.

Not really personally, but I am very interested in space and NASA. I find it very interesting a to watch the progress of space exploration in my lifetime. I will not be here to watch the first humans on Mars but know that the first steps have been taken during my lifetime to pave the way for the next generation of space explorers to seek out whatever they wish to find, safely.

[PieAreSquared]

I will not be here to watch the first humans on Mars

nor will anyone who reads this any time soon ;)

[cosmictraveler]

Well done! A perfect landing! Although it was landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California instead of Florida. Great job everyone! :bravo:

[draqon]

I will not be here to watch the first humans on Mars

nor will anyone who reads this any time soon ;)

You will not be here to watch humans on Mars, true.

But many of us who are here will watch humans on Mars.

[cosmictraveler]

Now to get the ISS completed which will take a few more missions.