08-04-2007, 01:23 PM
Hubble to be Serviced Again
Administrator Michael Griffin’s decision on October 31, 2006 to fly servicing mission SM4 in mid- to late-2008 will bring unique capabilities to Hubble in the form of two new science instruments, Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3. New gyros and batteries will extend Hubble's life through 2013.
Past Servicing of Hubble
In four Space Shuttle Servicing Missions (SM) dating to December, 1993, astronaut crews performed vital servicing tasks on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), both extending operating life with the replacement of aging hardware, and enhancing scientific capability by very large factors with the installation of advanced science instruments incorporating new cutting-edge technologies. Maintaining and upgrading the telescope in such a way was part of the Hubble mission plan going back to the Project's earliest days, and this foresight produced a modular telescope design which permitted astronaut-friendly servicing operations
Administrator Michael Griffin’s decision on October 31, 2006 to fly servicing mission SM4 in mid- to late-2008 will bring unique capabilities to Hubble in the form of two new science instruments, Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3. New gyros and batteries will extend Hubble's life through 2013.
Past Servicing of Hubble
In four Space Shuttle Servicing Missions (SM) dating to December, 1993, astronaut crews performed vital servicing tasks on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), both extending operating life with the replacement of aging hardware, and enhancing scientific capability by very large factors with the installation of advanced science instruments incorporating new cutting-edge technologies. Maintaining and upgrading the telescope in such a way was part of the Hubble mission plan going back to the Project's earliest days, and this foresight produced a modular telescope design which permitted astronaut-friendly servicing operations