March
8, 2002, 4:33pm CST
One Hubble Girl's View by Ann Jenkins
Mission Control, Houston
Spacewalk #5: The Astronauts’ Message
MESSAGE FROM ON HIGH
As astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan finished up their
last scheduled spacewalk, they took time out to address the mission
team on the ground and all the people of Planet Earth.
“It’s people up here servicing spacecraft like Hubble, and there’s
a huge team on the ground at Goddard Space Flight Center, Space
Telescope Science Institute, Ball Aerospace, Swales, Orbital, Lockheed
Martin, United Space Alliance…and the list goes on and on,” said
Grunsfeld.
“HST is definitely an icon of science, but also [of] the peaceful
use of space,” Grunsfeld continued. “And for all the people above
us on Planet Earth: May there be peace on Earth. And thanks very
much for helping us with STS-109.”
Thank you, John. You, Scooter, Digger, Nancy, Rick, Mike and Jim
have made us all very happy Hubble Huggers!
March
8, 2002, 4:00pm CST
Dr. Edward Cheng (different Ed)
HST Development Project Scientist
Johnson Space Center
Well, this is it! Last night's EVA capped off a nearly perfect mission
with the installation of the NICMOS Cooling System components. That's
not to say that we didn't have any problems all week, but that all
the issues that came up were small, and easily within the capability
of our well-trained team to handle.
This has been an extraordinarily complicated mission, AND it has
also been extraordinarily successful. We could not have asked for
more.
Deploy is scheduled for tomorrow morning around 4 am CST. I am not
sure I can stay awake for this, but it will be an emotional experience
for those who can make it. We look forward to the exciting new science
that can now be done.
Meet you here in two years for the next installment in this remarkable
Hubble Space Telescope adventure - Servicing Mission 4. Meanwhile,
check out Hubble's science discoveries and ejoy the show.
The headache metric today reads:
Excedrin: 7 + 2 = 9
Tylenol: 6 + 3 = 9
Bayer: 1 + 2 = 3
Aleve: 5 + 3 = 8
Advil: 10 + 2 = 12
March
8, 2002
Dr. Edward Cheung (Jackson & Tull)
HST Principal Engineer
Time to go home
 The
astronauts just finished their last space walk, and the mission
has been a huge success. HST now has a new power system, and two
additional Science Instruments. All our hardware is working just
fine.
It was incredibly thrilling to see the astronauts install the NICMOS
Cooling System, which will cool off NICMOS, an instrument that stopped
working two years ago. We flew this cooler on STS-95 (known as the
John Glenn mission). That is when we tested the operation of the
system in space. Today we install it permanently into HST. An important
part of the NCS is called the ARUBA, which is essentially a relay
box. This box allows us to cut power from NCS should there be a
particular failure. It was really thrilling to see the astronauts
install that, saying the name ARUBA at least twice (7:30 am ET).
I think this is the first time our island's name is mentioned in
space. I will digitize this and put it on my web site with the help
of Pete (my brother).
If HST is ever brought home, some hardware will need to be jettisoned
into space. This will cause it to burn up on reentry. Much of the
hardware that we installed this mission will encounter this fate,
including the radiator and ARUBA. As a result, the ARUBA box will
remain in space forever. This disposal process needs to happen because
the landing is very traumatic, and we can not risk hardware shaking
loose inside Cargo Bay and damaging the Orbiter. Since the radiator
is simply hanging on hand rails, it is not as rigidly attached as
it could be. Other hardware such as the Solar Arrays just will simply
not fit back into the Cargo Bay.
I will come in early tomorrow morning to witness the release of
HST at around 4:30 am. Then I will head to the airport and go home.
It has been one month since I left there, and one week since I saw
my wife Agnes and the kids so I am looking forward to that. A small
crew will stay behind until the landing of the Shuttle, and then
the mission will officially end.
This has been my fourth HST mission. It has been an incredible journey
these past few weeks. Testing the hardware for the last time, packing
it up for shipment to the Cape, testing it in Florida, seeing Mickey,
seeing the launch, and the thrill of seeing the astronauts do their
space walks. I look forward to coming back in two years from now
and doing it all again. I have already started working on several
of the flight boxes that will be installed the next mission, including
HST's next premier instrument, Wide Field Camera III.
Thank you for your encouragement and e-mails.
I hope to see you soon.
More from Ed at: http://www.edcheung.com/job/sm3b/sm3b.htm
NICMOS Cryocooler page: http://www.edcheung.com/job/ncs/ncs2.htm
ARUBA hardware page: http://www.edcheung.com/job/sm3b/aruba/aruba4.htm
March
8, 2002, 2:27pm CST
One Hubble Girl's View by Ann Jenkins
Mission Control, Houston
Spacewalk #5 and Afterwards
 “AWESOME!
…AS IN ‘TOTALLY AWESOME, DUDE!’”
Those were the words that Preston Burch, Hubble Space Telescope
Program Manager, used in this morning’s press briefing to describe
Spacewalk #5. He went on to say much more, but that was the phrase
that best summarized his feelings on how the astronauts performed
in the wee hours of Friday morning on their fifth and final spacewalk
of the mission.
During this spacewalk, John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan retrofitted
the existing but dormant Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer
with a new, experimental cooling system that may return it to active
duty. Aliveness and functional tests showed the cooler to be in
good working order. After several more weeks of checkout and calibration,
we hope the cooler will revive NICMOS, and thus Hubble’s near-infrared
capability.
As with each of this mission’s spacewalks, this one held a few unscripted
challenges. Like the others, the astronauts and ground team worked
together to leap each hurdle swiftly and gracefully. The nearly
seven-and-a-half hour spacewalk was physically and mentally challenging
for astronaut team. But in the end teamwork and ingenuity prevailed.
When asked to compare today’s refurbished Hubble with the original
telescope, Burch didn’t hesitate for a moment. “A far better machine
than when it was first launched,” he said. Dr. Ed Cheng, who headed
the NICMOS Cryocooler effort, added, “The miracle of servicing makes
this possible.”
March
7, 2002, 3:15pm CST
One Hubble Girl's View by Ann Jenkins
Mission Control, Houston
Johnson Space Center
PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS!
We just got the word: Our new, Advanced Camera for Surveys just
passed its functional test with 100 percent success! The relief
and jubilation are indescribable! Could you hear us cheering?
March
7, 2002, 3:00pm CST
Dr. Edward Cheng (different Ed)
HST Development Project Scientist
Johnson Space Center
 HST
has a fantastic new imaging instrument! The Advanced Camera for
Surveys was installed last night, and successfully passed its aliveness
and functional tests just moments ago.
Today we are thinking about whether, how, and which MLI covers we
would like installed as an optional task for tomorrow's EVA. There
is concern that some of the patches applied on previous missions
may not last until the next servicing mission.
One more day for the NICMOS Cooling System tomorrow, and we bid
it adieu until next time.
The headache metric today reads:
Excedrin: 5 + 2 = 7
Tylenol: 5 + 1 = 6
Bayer: 0 + 1 = 1
Aleve: 3 + 2 = 5
Advil: 7 + 3 = 10
March
7, 2002
One Hubble Girl's View by Ann Jenkins
Mission Control, Houston
Spacewalk #4 and the Next Morning
 A
BRAND NEW DAY!
Last night was the end of an era. We replaced the last of Hubble’s
original instruments—the Faint Object Camera—with the
spiffy, new and much more powerful Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Now Hubble is very different—and far more capable—than
it was the day it launched in 1990. That’s the beauty of Hubble’s
modular design: the telescope can evolve right along with advancing
technology.
Not that growing up is easy. Last night, I sat alongside Doug Campbell,
the Deputy Instrument Manager for ACS. He fidgeted like an expectant
father in a maternity ward’s waiting room while the astronauts
delivered his instrument to Hubble. And we all held our breath as
Massimino slipped inside the telescope to do the necessary mate
and demate procedures for changing the instruments.
Already, we have confirmation that the new instrument is alive and
well. “ACS phoned home and told us it was okay!” announced
Dr. Garth Illingsworth, the instrument’s co-investigator, at
this morning’s press briefing. Campbell added, “ACS “We’re
very relieved to see ACS in its home and working! The detectors
are cold [which is a good thing].”
In other news, the gravity of Spacewalk #3 is finally beginning
to sink in for some of us. Although it’s been more than 24
hours since its successful completion, some of us are just now starting
to realize how different our lives would be if Hubble had not come
back to life. The words “Would you like fries with that?”
keep echoing through my head.
Well, it’s late in my day and time for bed. Maybe “tonight”
I’ll actually get some sleep.
|
Earlier
Chronicles
