Telescope

Muscle power saves the day for Hubble camera

In a make-or-break attempt to free a stuck bolt holding an old camera in place on the Hubble Space Telescope, spacewalker Andrew Feustel, anchored to the end of the shuttle Atlantis' robot arm, used old-fashioned elbow grease to save the day, releasing the bolt and clearing the way for installation of a powerful new camera.

If the bolt had snapped--and that was a possibility--the astronauts would have been unable to remove the 16-year-old Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. In that case, the new $132 million Wide Field Camera 3 would have been returned to Earth aboard Atlantis in a major … Read more

Atlantis astronauts capture Hubble telescope

Updated at 4:20 p.m. PDT with quotes and details, mission status briefing.

The Hubble Space Telescope, hobbled by old age and years of post-Columbia neglect, was plucked out of open space by the crew of the shuttle Atlantis on Wednesday, setting the stage for a final five-spacewalk overhaul to give the iconic observatory an extended lease on life.

Commander Scott Altman, who flew an F-14 jet in the movie "Top Gun," deftly maneuvered the orbiter to within a few dozen feet of the 24,500-pound telescope as the two spacecraft sailed through space in lockstep, covering … Read more

Shuttle heat shield damage assessed

Engineers at the Johnson Space Center are evaluating a small area of tile damage on the forward part of the shuttle Atlantis' right wing where it joins the ship's fuselage. The nicked tiles, apparently damaged during launch by a debris impact around 106 seconds after liftoff, were spotted Tuesday during a lengthy heat shield inspection by the Atlantis astronauts.

LeRoy Cain, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team, told reporters late Tuesday that engineers are not overly concerned about the damage and probably will not require an additional, "focused" inspection to collect more data. But engineers will … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis blasts off on Hubble mission

With a second shuttle on standby for possible rescue duty, the shuttle Atlantis blasted off Monday on a high-stakes five-spacewalk mission to resuscitate the aging Hubble Space Telescope--a fifth and final housecall to give the hobbled satellite a new lease on life.

With its three main engines roaring at full throttle, Atlantis' twin solid-fuel boosters ignited with a ground-shaking roar at 2:01:56 p.m. EDT, instantly pushing the winged spacecraft skyward atop a churning cloud of exhaust.

At the moment of liftoff, the Hubble Space Telescope was soaring high above central Florida in its 350-mile-high orbit, streaking through … Read more

Shuttle Atlantis set for Hubble launch Monday

The shuttle Atlantis' countdown is proceeding smoothly toward launch Monday on an $887 million mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Forecasters are predicting a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather in Florida and only a slight chance of showers near an emergency runway in Spain.

On Saturday, the shuttle's fuel cell system was loaded with liquid oxygen and hydrogen to power the ship's electrical generators and early Sunday, the main engine avionics system was activated and checked out.

There are no technical problems of any significance at launch complex 39A, and engineers are on track preparing the … Read more

Shuttle layoffs begin as program winds down

With retirement of the space shuttle program looming next year and just nine flights remaining, NASA managers announced Thursday the first major wave of job losses, saying 160 contract workers would face layoffs Friday, the first of some 900 jobs that will be cut between now and the end of September.

"They are primarily manufacturing team members," shuttle Program Manager John Shannon said. "We have delivered the last pieces of hardware that those team members produce and we don't keep them on the (payroll). And that is in order to get our budget down to the … Read more

NASA retargets Atlantis launch for May 11

Launch of the shuttle Atlantis on a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope has been moved up one day and retargeted for May 11 at 2:01:49 p.m. EDT.

NASA officials said Wednesday that they hoped to push the launch date up in order to increase the odds of a successful launch before a deadline of May 14. But they needed to assess whether such a schedule change was feasible. Engineers and managers concluded Friday that processing could, in fact, be accelerated without affecting required work. Senior managers will hold an executive-level flight readiness review next Thursday … Read more

NASA: No shuttle damage from dropped socket

A one-and-one-eighth-inch socket from a torque wrench fell from a service platform and hit the shuttle Atlantis' left payload bay door radiator during Hubble Space Telescope cargo installation earlier this week. In a lucky break for NASA's shuttle team, no one was injured, coolant lines in the radiator were not damaged, and a dent where the socket impacted will not need repairs.

Atlantis is tentatively scheduled for liftoff May 12 on a fifth and final mission to service, repair, and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Shuttle managers planned to meet Friday for a second round of discussions on whether … Read more

NASA considers moving Hubble launch up one day

NASA managers are debating whether to move up launch of the shuttle Atlantis by one day to maximize the launch opportunities it has before reaching a May 14 deadline, officials said Wednesday.

The shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 1:31 p.m. EDT on May 12 for the fifth and final mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. But a military operation on the range will prevent any shuttle launch attempts for about a week starting May 14. That operation requires support from the Air Force Eastern Range, which provides tracking and telemetry support for all … Read more