Hubble Space Telescope Past, Present and Future

Home , Pillars of Creation

Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Ph.D. MIT 16.885x (Lecture 22) 2

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NONREFLECTIVE COATING

So what can we do to fix the problem?!

Who will be on the crew to rescue Hubble? Who will be on the crew to rescue Hubble?

Only EVA-experienced astronauts!

STS-61/SM-1: 2-13 December 1993

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Wide Field Camera

12/3/2018 8:15 PM 76

93 94 95 “The Pillars of Creation”

Hubble Heritage

98 STS-82/SM-2: 11-21 February 1997

Primary Objectives:

• Install Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) • Install Near Infra-red Camera Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) • Install Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) • Install Solid State Recorder (SSR) • Replace Solar Array Drive Electronics (SADE) • Replace Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) • Install Thermal Insulation 99 100 STS-103/SM-3A: 17-26 December 1999

Primary Objectives:

• Rate Sensor Units (RSU) •Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) • 486 Computer • Solid State Recorder (SSR) • Single Access S-Band Transceiver (SSAT) • Thermal Insulation • Avoid Y2K bugs

101 STS-109/SM-3B: 1-12 March 2002

102 103 104 105 106 107 108 The trouble with Hubble was not over…

• In 2003 the tragic loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and crew led to the cancellation of the final Hubble Servicing Mission using the Shuttle.

• The decision by Administrator Sean O’Keefe to cancel the mission was based on a non-analytical assessment of overall risk. • The data used was the then current thinking about return to flight capabilities projected to 2006-07.

• Hubble Robotic Servicing was planned to fill the gap. 110 The trouble with Hubble was not over…

• In 2003 the tragic loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and crew led to the cancellation of the final Hubble Servicing Mission using the Shuttle.

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Rescue Mission

Rescue Orbiter grapples SM4 Orbiter

Crew Transfer is via EVA

115 HST Battery Module Assemblies

Original installed in HST Bay 2 Wet slurry Battery (SN1033)

(With Lid removed)

116 HST Rate Gyro Assembly (RGA)

• The HST Rate Gyro Assembly (RGA) systems are critical RATE GYRO ASSEMBLY attitude control sensors for the Pointing and Control System

• RGA function is to sense vehicle rotations • The HST Observatory incorporates three RGA systems

• A RGA system consists of an Rate Sensor Unit (RSU) and an Electronic Control Unit (ECU):

• Three RSUs are attached to the Optical Telescope Assembly and accessed through the AFT Shroud

• Three ECUs are mounted in Bay 10 Rate Sensor Unit and Electronic Control Unit • Each RSU contains two Rate Sensors

Location of RSUs • Any of the six Rate Sensors can be used for attitude control • Currently, four of six Rate Sensors are available, two are operating

• The Astronauts have successfully exchanged RGA components on previous HST Servicing Missions

• Four RSUs are manifested RSU Locations • One ECU is manifested as an contingency ORU

117 Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS)

 The HST Fine Guidance System provides attitude sensors for the Pointing and Control System  HST incorporates three sets of Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) assemblies  Provide precision attitude reference for science operations through search, acquisition, and tracking of target stars called Guide Stars  Each FGS assembly consists of:  the FGS Radial Bay Module (RBM); and,  the Fine Guidance Electronics (FGE)  Key RBM optical bench components:  Interferometer Assembly with Photo Multiplier Tubes (PMTs); and,  Star Selector Servo Assemblies  Each FGE (located in Bays D, F, or G) provides power, transmits commands, and receives data from its respective RBM

118 Cosmic Origins Spectrogaph (COS)

• COS will be the most sensitive ultraviolet (UV) instrument on HST • COS has high throughput for efficient survey of faint UV point sources • The Far Ultraviolet (FUV) channel is ≈ 15 times more sensitive than STIS for a single wavelength at a resolution of 20,000, allowing access to 152.7 (≈ 1500) times more quasars • Full FUV spectrum (1150-1800Å) observations are 8 times more efficient than STIS • The Near Ultraviolet (NUV) channel is 2-4 times more sensitive than STIS at a single wavelength

119 WFC3 is a Hubble Space Telescope Radial Instrument

WFC3 will replace the extraordinarily successful but aging WFPC2 in its radial instrument bay

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STIS Repair • Cover has 111 tiny non-captive screws (#4, #8) with washers. • Electronic boards and electronics enclosure has sharp edges. • Electronics ESD sensitive. • Card cage has wedge locks which may be cold welded to card. • Cover plate has EMI gasket which is likely degraded, brittle and poses a contamination hazard.

L-Handle 1 EVA Handle

+V3

6,7 +V1 +V2 Side

Cover Extension 3,4MEB-1 5 Cover

Cover 2 Clamp 122 ACS Repair Development

Grid Cutter 1G Development 123 Card Extraction Tool Development Soft Capture Mechanism

 Enable deorbit of HST by a robotic spacecraft at end of life.  Will not affect HST science operations.  Attached via EVA

SCM attached to HST Aft Bulkhead 124

Hubble

• Servicing by the Shuttle re-invents the telescope at each visit.

• The complexity of what the crew accomplishes increases with each mission.

• HST continues to make remarkable scientific discoveries powered by new instruments taking advantage of current technology.

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Discoveries continuing! HST’s Dominance of Science News “Annual Discoveries” List Reflects the Effectiveness of Regular Servicing by Astronauts and Collaborative Work with Science Community

Cumulative Contributions of the 10 Most Productive NASA Programs

HST 40 Voyager Viking Galileo Apollo 30 STS Points GRO MGS Chandra 20 Rockets/Balloons

0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 12/3/2018 8:15 PM 131 Year Are we alone? The Orion Nebula

132 Nascent planetary systems

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Gravitational Lensing & Dark Matter

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Ripples in the Cosmic Background Radiation as measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Composition of the Cosmos

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