Space Shuttle Atlantis is getting ready to launch on the "final" service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA claims that there will be no more service missions to Hubble after this one. We've heard that before, so maybe it wont be!
Two of the main goals of the mission is to install the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). Many of the inside parts of Hubble were designed to be simple unplugged, and pulled out of their slots. This allows very easy upgrades, and repairs to the Space Telescope. Currently Hubble has the Wide Field & Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). The WFC3 has a larger field of view than the WFPC2, which means that it will take in a larger view of the cosmos! The new camera also has a larger resolution than the current one, and is able to show much greater detail according to the Space Shuttle section of the NASA web site. WFC3 will be able to see from near-ultraviolet, through visible light, all the way to near-infrared. This will allow people at NASA to study dark energy, dark matter, the formation of stars, and to see galaxies that are currently far beyond Hubble's sight! Spectrographs take light, and break it down to learn valuable information about the source of the light. The COS, will see in the ultralight end of the spectrum, and help to see how the galaxy has formed over the billions of years since it's creation. This single item will improve ultralight sensitivity anywhere from 10 to 70 percent for faint objects in space. COS will replace the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR). This is the device that corrected Hubble's bad vision after the telescope first lunched. All the instruments installed on Hubble since it's first service mission has made COSTAR unnecessary now!!
There are also repair to be made. Two instruments that have not worked, or partaily worked, for a few years will be serviced to bring them back to full working order. Hubble has 6 125lb. batteries to power the telescope while it's in the Earth's shadow, and all 6 will be replaced with more efficent ones. Hubble has 6 gyroscopes, which help to tell the computer where, and how to point the telescope. As designed, 3 gyroscopes should point the telescope, with the other 3 waiting as backups. Currently 3 have failed completely, 2 are in use, and only one is available if either of the 2 active gyroscopes should fail. Atlantis' crew will replace all 6 gyroscopes!!
One of the last devices installed will be a new soft capture mechanism to allow future attachment of robotic spacecraft. Could this be a foreshadow of things to come in Hubble's life?? According to the web site, it's for, "someday, once the telescope is at the end of it's life." Why would they need to attach a robotic craft to let it die? Maybe there is at least talk of useing Hubble beyond it's 2014 life exceptancey?!?!
After Atlantis finishes it's work, it will be a while before new pictures start coming in from a rejuvenated Hubble. There are tests, and calibrations, that could last for several months. NASA thinks that new photos may be avalible sometime in early 2009.
I know this post was kinda long compared to my other two NASA posts. That's because I've been lax with the last two weekend's posts. I will try not to let that happen again. I put a little more into this post to try to make up for that! :)
(Top: Concept art of Hubble, Top Middle: The black box in the center is the Comsmic Origins Spectrograph, Bottom Middle: An Astronaut replacing one of Hubble's batteries, Bottom: The two boxes in both upper corners, and the silver rectangle in the upper middle are 3 of the 6 gyroscopes that help point Hubble.
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