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STS-125
Weaver
Breakfast WitchHashus BrowniusRegistered User regular
Breakfast WitchHashus BrowniusRegistered User regular
STS-125, also known as HST-SM4, is the fourth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. This mission was conducted by a great crew on the shuttle Atlantis, which launched on May 11, 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytqGMd6P8qk
The launch went off rather well, allowing the orbiter to catch up the HST at an altitude of 304 nautical miles. The shuttle is so high above the Earth that they are currently planning an orbital adjustment burn to decrease the height that the shuttle will fall from during re-entry.
The Atlantis carried several replacements and upgrades for various scientific modules for the HST, as well as new batteries and upgraded thermal blanketing to replace the material that has been battered by the harsh conditions of space for the last nine years, since the last service mission. But the most important cargo aboard the shuttle is always the crew that will be conducting the five days of EVAs and the full eleven day mission.
From the left are astronauts Michael J. Massimino, Michael T. "Bueno" Good, both mission specialists; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Scott D. Altman, commander; K. Megan McArthur, John M. Grunsfeld and Andrew J. Feustel, all mission specialists.
To break that down a bit more simply:
Altman, Commander
Johnson, Pilot
Massimino, EVA
"Bueno", EVA
Grunsfeld, EVA
Feustel, EVA
McArthur, drives the robotic arm. Thanks Canada!
On May 12th, as the Atlantis continued to approach the HST, the crew was able to conduct an inspection of their heat shield. We all remember the Columbia disaster, and the crew and all of NASA is doing everything they can to ensure that we don't lose this highly talented crew, to the point of actually placing the shuttle Endeavour and its crew on the launch pad, ready to go at a moments notice to rescue the crew and equipment aboard Atlantis if it is determined that the Atlantis would not survive reentry.
On May 13th, Megan McArthur showed off her skills with the robotic arm by grabbing on to the HST and maneuvering it to attach it to a support system at the rear of the shuttles cargo bay, which it where it would sit for the next several days as work was conducted on it. Once the HST was docked, a visual inspection was conducted of the exterior of Hubble using a camera on the robotic arm. Also on this day, word came from the ground that the heat tiles on the shuttle were fit for reentry, but the Endeavour was still held in contingency.
May 14th, Grunsfeld and Fuestel conducted the first EVA, installing the Wide Field Camera 3 (fuck yeah even more awesome space images), which now incorporates an infra-red spectrum detection capability, and replaced the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, which had partially failed years ago but still functioned due to a built in redundancy. Some minor latch mechanisms were also installed on some the bay doors on Hubble, to make it easier and faster to open the bays on the remaining EVAs. Another mentionable item installed during this over 7-hour long EVA, was a new docking module that would allow the shuttle replacement vehicle to dock with the hubble when the time comes to decommision the HST and drop it out of orbit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R2iHEVOBHA
May 15th, EVA numero dos, in which Mike "Bueno" Good and Mike Massimino conduct their first EVA of the mission. Tasks for today, try not to giggle every time I hear "Bueno" over the radio channels, replace all three Rate Sensing Units, which contain two gyroscopes in each unit and allow the telescope to properly orient itself in space, and replace the first of two 460lb nickel-hydrogen battery modules. This was followed by a second inspection of the heat shield tiles. An interesting point of this EVA, one of the new Rate Sensing Units was unable to fit into its slot, but they were able to install one that was previously removed from Hubble and refurbished, carried on board for just such a situation. Mad respect to NASA for planning ahead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVIbHFP_s4
May 16th, EVA 3, Grunsfeld and Fuestel get their second day playing outside. This EVA had some amazing work done, so I'm just going to quote NASA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kab4OhCTj_8
May 17th. Mike & Mike are back out, which means my favorite astonaut, Bueno, is back in action. And these guys are going to be screwing hardcore today. The removal and capture of 111 screws so they can repair the two-dimensional spectroscopy capability. While working on this task, there was a handrail that needed to be removed. Only four screws kept it in place, and the head on the final screw got stripped out. NASA's solution? Yank it off. Yes folks, we had an astronaut physically yank a large chunk of metal off the HST and everything was OK. Due to the time lost on the handrail, however, they were unable to install one of the replacement thermal plates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZFKqT7uWb0
18 May. Final spacewalk. Grunsfeld and Fuestel installed the 2nd 460lb battery module, and replaced all of the thermal blankets scheduled for the EVA. This meant removal of the old thermal blankets, which depending on where they were on the HST, removal either went perfectly fine OR resulted in the old equipment being so damaged that pieces were crumbling off and floating into space. They were also able to complete the replacement of the shielding over Bay 8 that had been skipped over on the prtevious EVA. During all of this, the EVA team was able to replace Fine Guidance Sensor 2, which will give Hubble the ability to measure distance between celestial objects. Once the EVA objectives were met, the two astronauts completed a final tool inventory and inspection of the cargo bay to prep it for final reentry configuration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=engx24B4yyk
The shuttle screw still has to place the HST back in orbit, conduct another heat shield inspection, do an orbit adjustment burn, and then final reentry. The entire mission has been broadcast on NASA TV, with cameras in mission control in Houston, TX, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, handheld cameras inside the Atlantis orbiter, multiple cameras mounted inside of the orbiter cargo bay and on the robotic arm, and helmet cameras from the actual spacewalking astonauts. the Atlantis also filmed the final HST service mission in IMAX format, so look forward to seeing the splendors of this mission with giant 3-D goggles on.
NASA TV can be watched here. Currently the video feed is from inside the shuttle, clearing up a few item points before heading to bed.
We are currently approaching the crew sleep cycle, and during this time they replay the earlier EVA or show video filmed inside of the shuttle. Tomorrow you can view the release and placement of the Hubble Space Telescope as it happens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytqGMd6P8qk
The launch went off rather well, allowing the orbiter to catch up the HST at an altitude of 304 nautical miles. The shuttle is so high above the Earth that they are currently planning an orbital adjustment burn to decrease the height that the shuttle will fall from during re-entry.
The Atlantis carried several replacements and upgrades for various scientific modules for the HST, as well as new batteries and upgraded thermal blanketing to replace the material that has been battered by the harsh conditions of space for the last nine years, since the last service mission. But the most important cargo aboard the shuttle is always the crew that will be conducting the five days of EVAs and the full eleven day mission.
From the left are astronauts Michael J. Massimino, Michael T. "Bueno" Good, both mission specialists; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Scott D. Altman, commander; K. Megan McArthur, John M. Grunsfeld and Andrew J. Feustel, all mission specialists.
To break that down a bit more simply:
Altman, Commander
Johnson, Pilot
Massimino, EVA
"Bueno", EVA
Grunsfeld, EVA
Feustel, EVA
McArthur, drives the robotic arm. Thanks Canada!
On May 12th, as the Atlantis continued to approach the HST, the crew was able to conduct an inspection of their heat shield. We all remember the Columbia disaster, and the crew and all of NASA is doing everything they can to ensure that we don't lose this highly talented crew, to the point of actually placing the shuttle Endeavour and its crew on the launch pad, ready to go at a moments notice to rescue the crew and equipment aboard Atlantis if it is determined that the Atlantis would not survive reentry.
On May 13th, Megan McArthur showed off her skills with the robotic arm by grabbing on to the HST and maneuvering it to attach it to a support system at the rear of the shuttles cargo bay, which it where it would sit for the next several days as work was conducted on it. Once the HST was docked, a visual inspection was conducted of the exterior of Hubble using a camera on the robotic arm. Also on this day, word came from the ground that the heat tiles on the shuttle were fit for reentry, but the Endeavour was still held in contingency.
May 14th, Grunsfeld and Fuestel conducted the first EVA, installing the Wide Field Camera 3 (fuck yeah even more awesome space images), which now incorporates an infra-red spectrum detection capability, and replaced the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, which had partially failed years ago but still functioned due to a built in redundancy. Some minor latch mechanisms were also installed on some the bay doors on Hubble, to make it easier and faster to open the bays on the remaining EVAs. Another mentionable item installed during this over 7-hour long EVA, was a new docking module that would allow the shuttle replacement vehicle to dock with the hubble when the time comes to decommision the HST and drop it out of orbit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R2iHEVOBHA
May 15th, EVA numero dos, in which Mike "Bueno" Good and Mike Massimino conduct their first EVA of the mission. Tasks for today, try not to giggle every time I hear "Bueno" over the radio channels, replace all three Rate Sensing Units, which contain two gyroscopes in each unit and allow the telescope to properly orient itself in space, and replace the first of two 460lb nickel-hydrogen battery modules. This was followed by a second inspection of the heat shield tiles. An interesting point of this EVA, one of the new Rate Sensing Units was unable to fit into its slot, but they were able to install one that was previously removed from Hubble and refurbished, carried on board for just such a situation. Mad respect to NASA for planning ahead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVIbHFP_s4
May 16th, EVA 3, Grunsfeld and Fuestel get their second day playing outside. This EVA had some amazing work done, so I'm just going to quote NASA.
Grunsfeld and Feustel began the spacewalk at 8:35 a.m., removing the telescope’s 16-year-old “contact lens,†the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), and safely tucked it into the shuttle’s payload bay. The two then installed the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), which will allow Hubble to peer farther into the universe than ever before in the near and far ultraviolet ranges.
Then, Grunsfeld and Feustel used specially designed tools to carry out a job never intended to be done on a spacewalk, repairing the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The camera, known for some of the most famous imagery captured by Hubble, had stopped working in early 2007 when its backup power supply short circuited. The two removed 32 screws from an access panel to efficiently replace the camera’s four circuit boards and install a new power supply.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kab4OhCTj_8
May 17th. Mike & Mike are back out, which means my favorite astonaut, Bueno, is back in action. And these guys are going to be screwing hardcore today. The removal and capture of 111 screws so they can repair the two-dimensional spectroscopy capability. While working on this task, there was a handrail that needed to be removed. Only four screws kept it in place, and the head on the final screw got stripped out. NASA's solution? Yank it off. Yes folks, we had an astronaut physically yank a large chunk of metal off the HST and everything was OK. Due to the time lost on the handrail, however, they were unable to install one of the replacement thermal plates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZFKqT7uWb0
18 May. Final spacewalk. Grunsfeld and Fuestel installed the 2nd 460lb battery module, and replaced all of the thermal blankets scheduled for the EVA. This meant removal of the old thermal blankets, which depending on where they were on the HST, removal either went perfectly fine OR resulted in the old equipment being so damaged that pieces were crumbling off and floating into space. They were also able to complete the replacement of the shielding over Bay 8 that had been skipped over on the prtevious EVA. During all of this, the EVA team was able to replace Fine Guidance Sensor 2, which will give Hubble the ability to measure distance between celestial objects. Once the EVA objectives were met, the two astronauts completed a final tool inventory and inspection of the cargo bay to prep it for final reentry configuration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=engx24B4yyk
The shuttle screw still has to place the HST back in orbit, conduct another heat shield inspection, do an orbit adjustment burn, and then final reentry. The entire mission has been broadcast on NASA TV, with cameras in mission control in Houston, TX, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, handheld cameras inside the Atlantis orbiter, multiple cameras mounted inside of the orbiter cargo bay and on the robotic arm, and helmet cameras from the actual spacewalking astonauts. the Atlantis also filmed the final HST service mission in IMAX format, so look forward to seeing the splendors of this mission with giant 3-D goggles on.
NASA TV can be watched here. Currently the video feed is from inside the shuttle, clearing up a few item points before heading to bed.
We are currently approaching the crew sleep cycle, and during this time they replay the earlier EVA or show video filmed inside of the shuttle. Tomorrow you can view the release and placement of the Hubble Space Telescope as it happens.
Weaver on
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That's Mike Massamino, who will also be filming the landing of Atlantis from inside the flight deck, and was given special dispensation from his Catholic priest to miss church yesterday.
edit: Also the guy that ripped the handrail off.
but finally, the kudos go to the sts-125 crew for such a fine job.
"Think of it as Evolution in Action"
I was sorta hoping this was a jokepost
"I am in space, looking down over Earth. I have a big hardon."
Astro_Mike = Lt. Mike Birchwood
How can you possibly have a problem with IM's from a dude in orbit, in fucking space.
https://www.paypal.me/hobnailtaylor
Bravo.
Because I think it's lame as fuck astronauts, the best, the brightest, the folk heroes of the american psyche, are goddamn twittering from space oh god my brain
Antithesis, or culmination?
go hump a rock
tweetin' from space is probably the coolest thing
that's like saying "my friend can already call me what's the big deal about texting"
Like when we went to the moon.
Now they have to keep a little twitter.
Wow, that sure is amazing, I can get texts when I'd rather be watching them taker their space walk in HD on my TV.
up to the minute updates directly from an astronaut about going into space and what he's thinking right this very moment
and you are complaining because "oh my god twitter let me get my gun"
Yes, this
Twitter is an asinine tool that the everyman is clinging too because they want to social network irrelevantly
I feel like you'd be reacting differently if he was updating his livejournal from space
I mean, astronauts can't even use their enormous vocabularies to full effect!
"When you first turn on the ignition, it rides really really rough for a couple minutes, then shuts off completely"
"What kind of vehicle is it?"
"Oh, it's a government vehicle"
"Where are you guys at?"
"Oh, 'bout 50 miles from Hawaii"
"What kinda mileage does it have?"
"Couple million miles on the odometer"
i don't want to read an astronaut's attempts at composing thirty pages of 'whoo space' on a blog, but i do want to know about spacewalks etc as they happen
the everyman?
really?
That is awesome.
I just think it mitigates the incredible awe space and interest should engender when it's all lol getting twittered. Or tweeted. Or whatever.
who gives a shit was medium they're using
it's cool as hell they're doing any sort of active communication with regular folk at all. Back in the day all you could do was get a ham radio and listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bwu3Abs5qw
We don't talk about the space serpents.
I gave it the OP it deserves.
Also get this twitter argument bullshit out of here. They've been filming in IMAX and HD and sending down "home video" style videos from inside the shuttle every day, not to mention the live helmet-cam video, every day during the five EVAs. You can even get a radio broadcast of just the audio using old HAM radio equipment if you wanted. All mediums are covered so cut this shit the fuck out.
thats what I was trying to do with the space serpents
also it's not as though the fact that this guy is twittering is depriving you of your HD spacewalk video. they are unrelated.
those posts look like a backlash against the idea of twitter as it's generally used, even though it actually works pretty well here.
He gets the biggest grin possible on his face and slowly puts his hand up and waves back and oh man that is the fucking coolest thing ever
I just have irrelevant opinions about stupid, irrelevant things
Makes me wonder what sort of attitude his generation will have towards space travel, having grown up with it in a totally different context then anyone else
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Hey numbnuts, there is TV footage in the OP.
Well it's not on TV per se, but it's video footage which is viewable in a HD format if you desire.
Makes me wonder what sort of attitude his generation will have towards space travel, having grown up with it in a totally different context then anyone else[/QUOTE]
this is really something I've always wondered too. For me, space is still one of the only things that can inspire complete and utter awe from me.
but how will my children react? will they still be filled with wonder at the vastness of space? will they go "holy shit" every time a giant hi-res picture of a nebula shows up?