Podcast: First Light, Last Paycheck?
- By Maggie Masetti
- March 3, 2010
- 11 Comments
Working at NASA can provide unique and exciting job opportunities. It can be the chance of a lifetime to work on a satellite and see the products of your hard work launched into space. The flip side is that many projects only span a few years, so your dream job may not last forever. Many of us change projects routinely – and also have to deal with some level of uncertainty concerning employment.
There are, however, some long-running projects at NASA – and the Hubble Space Telescope is one of them. HST was carried into orbit nearly twenty years ago, and it has been serviced by astronauts four times. Each repair of Hubble called for specialized skills that may or may not be applicable elsewhere. With Servicing Mission 4 successfully complete, we wanted to find out what the people who spent years (and perhaps their entire careers) on Hubble were doing now that the final servicing mission is done.
Click to listen! (12MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)
We got to touch Hubble hardware!
Justin Cassidy, who worked on the development of the tools the astronauts used, was kind enough to show us some hardware from Hubble. These are the real things!
This is the handrail that astronaut Mike Massimino had to yank off of the Hubble. You can even seen where the stuck bolt slightly damaged the edge of the hole in the end.
Here is a little video of the handrail being ripped off of Hubble!
This is the cover plate from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). It was never designed to be removed, so they had to design a special piece of hardware that would attach to it and contain the tiny screws (32 of them!)
This is the ACS fastener capture plate – we took a pic of it when we gave one of our listeners a tour.
There is a little video here, about the ACS repair. It features another one of our interviewees, Kevin Boyce. There’s a bigger picture of the ACS fastener capture plate here.
This video features Justin Cassidy and Mike Massimino, and shows the Hubble tools in action!
This is the pistol grip tool, or PGT. I believe it is a multi-purpose tool for use on the Space Station, as well as Hubble. It’s like a programmable power screwdriver for all of those pesky Hubble screws. It was really heavy – though it’s not in space!
This is the RIB, designed to capture hardware during removal.
This tool was used during the first Hubble Servicing Mission, possibly by Story Musgrave.
This roller was used during Servicing Mission 4 to smooth out materials.
Credits:
| Host | Maggie Masetti |
| Guests | Mark Jarosz Justin Cassidy Jackie Johnson Kevin Boyce Eliot Malumuth |
| Editor | Maggie Masetti |
| Theme Music | Naked Singularity |
| Transcript | Maggie Masetti |
| Website Support | Meredith Gibb Maggie Masetti |
| Producer | Sara Mitchell |
| Responsible NASA Official | Kim Weaver |
It was interesting to hear what happens behind the scenes with these missions. Most of us just see the results and have no idea about what goes into keeping the Hubble operational or about the people who actual do all the work. Well done podcast!
Thanks!
Many missions don’t get a lot of mainstream press before they launch… so it sometimes seems like they just magically appeared on the rocket! But each mission reflects years and years of brainstorming, proposals, design, development, troubleshooting, and all of the other steps between conception and liftoff. Hubble was in the works for nearly two decades before it actually launched! And now it has spent another two decades as NASA’s most publicly visible space observatory.
Thanks for shedding some light on the engineers that are responsible for the Hubble repair/maintenance work. What most people don’t realize is that engineers, mission scientists and mission managers (robotic missions, for example) spend HUGE chunks of their time on a given mission before moving on. Just think of the hours/years put into a mission before it ever leaves the ground!
P.S. Is the PGT awesome or what?!
It’s hard to see the little details when you’re looking at the big picture with a mission as big and long-lasting as Hubble! It’s definitely taken a large community of scientists, engineers, technicians, programmers, support staff, etc. to get HST off the ground, keep it running, and service it four times. No other mission has had quite that level of long-term development and support.
The PGT was definitely our favorite tool! We really wanted to build some office furniture with it, but Justin locked it safely away before we could run off with it.
It would seem that such simple tools, but how much energy and intelligence invested in them.
After all, these things should work with 100% reliability and efficiency.
Any sign of the next podcast?? I’m starting to get withdrawal symptoms… :)
Keep an eye on the site… we’ve got things up our sleeves! :)
This site is great, thanks for the pictures and videos.
I think that Mike Massimino just goes to prove that when you go that far from home to get a job done, you get the job done.
Is it true that when Mike pulled that hand rail off he had made a small rip in his glove, but not all the way through?
I think I seen something about that on discovery channel, or I may have been mistaken.
Anyway, Thanks again for the great information.
Mike @ Bush Furniture Sonoma Tv Stand
P.S. If links are not allowed in my comments, please feel free to edit if necessary and accept my apologies.
Great Info Thanks,
It does appear to be true that Mike Massimino did rip his glove! It wasn’t a danger to him though, fortunately!
http://news.cnet.com/brute-force-hubble-fix-saves-the-day-again/
Glad you enjoyed the podcast! :-)
Hi, nice website. I agree with this
I think I seen something about that on discovery channel, or I may have been mistaken.It’s hard to see the little details when you’re looking at the big picture with a mission as big and long-lasting as Hubble! It’s definitely taken a large community of scientists, engineers, technicians, programmers, support staff, etc. to get HST off the ground, keep it running, and service it four times. No other mission has had quite that level of long-term development and support.
Great site! Where have you been hiding (LOL)? Glad I found you; Awesome Videos and Pics! Thanks. ! :)