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HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE STATUS REPORT --Hubble Space Telescope Returns
to Science Operations
Goddard Space Flight Center, Public Affairs Office Update
NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope will resume routine science operations
this evening, the first time it will have been used for science
since being repaired during a Space Shuttle mission in December.
Two sets of Early Release Observations have been scheduled
for this week. The first set will take place tonight, the
second will extend over a 3-day period beginning on Tuesday
evening, Jan. 11. Observers will use the Wide Field Planetary
Camera 2 (WFPC2) to peer into two targets, a cluster of galaxies
and a planetary nebula. Scientists will need approximately
two weeks to process the data and transform it into pictures
ready for release. Limited prime science observations with
the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) will begin
on January 13, and full science operations with STIS will
resume on January 17.
While
Guest Observer science has been scheduled at close to normal
levels, Servicing Mission Orbital Verification calibrations
will continue for several more weeks. Of particular interest
will be the activities for commissioning the newly installed
Fine Guidance Sensor 2 for guiding and verifying its long-term
stability. To date, the spacecraft and all instruments are
operating nominally.
HST has been unable to perform science since the failure of
a fourth gyro on Nov. 13. All six gyroscopes were successfully
replaced during Servicing Mission 3A which began with the
launch of Shuttle Discovery on Dec. 19. In addition to the
replacement of the six gyroscopes, a new advanced computer,
voltage improvement kit, fine guidance sensor, transmitter
and a solid state recorder were installed.
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