This website is kept for archival purposes only and is no longer updated.

The nasa.gov site requires that JavaScripts be enabled in your browser. For instructions, click here

	+ Home

Servicing Mission 4 (SM4)

May 11, 2009: (STS-125). Launch of Shuttle Atlantis.

Replace Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) with Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)
Remove the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) and install the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) in its place
Repair the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)
Repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)
Replace gyroscopes
Replace one Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS)
Replace batteries
Install New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL) on bays 5, 7 and 8
Install Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM)
Replace Science Instrument Control and Data Handling (SIC&DH) unit

Servicing Mission 3B (SM3B)

March 1, 2002: (STS-109). Launch of Shuttle Columbia.

Installation of Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), replacing the Faint Object Camera (FOC).
Installation of NICMOS Cooling System (NCS) comprised of two components, the NICMOS Cryogenic Cooler (NCC) and the NCS radiator, to revive the NICMOS instrument.
Replace Solar Arrays 2 (SA2) with smaller, more efficient Solar Arrays 3 (SA3)
Replace the #2 of 3 Rate Sensor Unit (two gyros)
Replace #1 of 4 Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWA), part of Hubble's pointing control system, with a refurbished unit.
Replace Power Control Unit (PCU) to take full advantage of additional power generated by the new solar arrays.
Fit New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBLs) on Bays 1, 9 and 10

Servicing Mission 3A (SM3A)

December 19, 1999: (STS-103) Launch of Shuttle Discovery.

Replacement of all three RSU (Rate Sensing Unit containing two gyroscopes each).
Installation of new computer, 20 times faster with six times more memory than its predecessor.
Replacement of orginial reel-to-reel data recorder with digital Solid State Recorder (SSR) which is faster, more reliable and can store 10 times as much data.
Replacement of #2 of 3 Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) with refurbished unit.
Replacement of failed #2 of 2 S-Band Single Access Transmitter (SSAT) used to relay data to the ground.
Installation six Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kits (VIKs) on wiring between Solar Arrays and each battery to control charging of Hubble's batteries.
Installation of Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF) over the original Multi-Layer Insulation on Hubble's forward shell and light shield to add thermal protection.
Installation of Handrail Covers around the handrails above the Fine Guidance Sensor bay to prevent possible contamination to the Aft Shroud area from flaking handrail paint.
Fit New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBLs) on equipment Bay 1

November 13, 1999: Hubble placed in safe mode after the failure of a fourth gyroscope.

HST Orbital Systems Test (HOST)

October 29, 1998: (STS-95) Launch of Shuttle Discovery.

HOST mission was flown to test new technologies for installation into Hubble during servicing missions 3A and 3B.

Servicing Mission 2 (SM2)

February 11, 1997: (STS-82) Launch of Shuttle Discovery.

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) replaced Faint Object Spectrometer (FOS).
Near Infrared Camera/Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) replaced Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS).
Replacement of Fine Guidence Sensor #1 with modified spare with added capability for ground-controlled alignment corrections.
Addition of an Optical Control Electronics Enhancement Kit (OCE-EK)
Replacement of #1 Engineering Science Tape Recorders (ESTR) with digital Solid State Recorder (SSR) and replacement of #2 ESTR with a spare ESTR unit.
Replace #1 of 4 Reaction Wheel Assemblies (RWA), with refurbished spare.
Replacement of Data Interface Units (DIU) #2 with modified and upgraded spare unit.
Replacement of #2 Solar Array Drive Electronics (SADE) with refurbished unit.
Replacment of more durable covers on Magnetic Sensing System (MSS)

Servicing Mission 1 (SM1)

December 2, 1993: (STS-61) Launch of Shuttle Endeavour.

COSTAR, Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement installed, replacing High Speed Photometer (HSP).
WFPC 2 replaced Wide Field Planetary Camera 1 (WFPC).
Solar Arrays replaced with Solar Arrays 2 (SA2)
Replacement of #1 Solar Array Drive Electronics (SADE).
Replace the #2 and #3 Rate Sensor Unit (two gyros each).
Replacement of two Gyro Electronic Control Units which direct the RSUs.
Replacement of eight electrical fuses.
Installation of two new magnetometers.
Installation of Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph Redundancy (GHRS) kit.
Installation of two protective covers over original magnetometers.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Deployed

April 24, 1990: (STS-31) Launch of Shuttle Discovery.

April 25, 1990: Hubble Space Telescope deployed into orbit with first-generation scientific instruments WFPC, GHRS, FOS, FOC, and HSP.

June 25, 1990: Spherical aberration discovered in Hubble's primary mirror

COSTAR Approved: the creation of a complex packaging of five optical mirror pairs which would rectify the spherical aberration in Hubble's primary mirror.

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Operations begin in Baltimore, Maryland. The STScI was built as the astronomical research center for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Congress approves funding for The Hubble Space Telescope

NASA names its largest, most complex, and capable orbiting telescope in honor of Edwin Hubble.

The LST - Large Space Telescope

Astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer gathered the support of other astronomers for a "large orbital telescope".

In 1969, the National Academy of Sciences gave its approval for the Large Space Telescope (LST) project, and the hearings and feasibility studies continued.

Conception of a space telescope

Famed rocket scientist Herman Oberth publishes an article speculating on telescopes in orbit.

Space pioneer Hermann Oberth was considered by many to be the most famous mentor of the late Dr. Wernher von Braun, the first director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Edwin Hubble and the Hooker Telescope

2.5-meter (100-inch) Hooker Telescope begins operations at Mt. Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California.

With this telescope in the 1920's, astronomer Edwin Hubble measured the distances and velocities of galaxies, work which led to his discovery of the expanding Universe.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center