Spaceflight Now | STS-109 Mission Report

Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 3B Welcome to Spaceflight Now's comprehensive coverage of Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-109 flight that will be the fourth mission to service and upgrade the orbiting Hubble Space Telscope. E-mail us your comments, suggestions and corrections!
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Columbia returns from Hubble service call Space shuttle Columbia and her crew of seven astronauts touched down at Kennedy Space Center's three-mile long runway at 4:32 a.m. EST (0932 GMT) March 12, capping a highly successful mission to service and extend the scientific reach of the Hubble Space Telescope. FULL STORY MISSION STATUS CENTER ENTRY AND LANDING EVENTS CHART
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Columbia heads for pin-point landing Tuesday The Columbia astronauts tested the shuttle's re-entry systems early today, firing up one of the ship's hydraulic units, test firing steering jets and calibrating cockpit instruments to make sure everything's ship-shape for landing Tuesday. There were no problems of any significance and the crew is pressing ahead with work to stow equipment and tidy up for re-entry. FULL STORY

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Crew reflects on Hubble, look forward to home Despite advances in adaptive optics and the advent of truly huge ground-based observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope, with its relatively modest 94.5-inch mirror, will remain at the forefront of science for years to come, says John Grunsfeld, Columbia's resident astronomer-astronaut. FULL STORY

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Hubble set free from shuttle The Columbia astronauts released the rejuvenated Hubble Space Telescope back into open space at 5:04 a.m. EST Saturday, wrapping up a surprisingly successful five-spacewalk flight to upgrade the $2 billion observatory's electrical system and scientific instruments. FULL STORY DEPLOYMENT PREVIEW STORY

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High-tech refrigerator installed into Hubble The fifth and final spacewalk of Columbia's mission to give the Hubble Space Telescope a makeover was successfully completed 360 miles above Earth on Friday. John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan attached an experimental ultra low-temperature refrigerator to the Hubble Space Telescope in a bid to revive a dormant infrared camera-spectrometer that ran out of nitrogen ice coolant in 1999. FULL STORY SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY HUBBLE SPACEWALK STATS

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Astronauts give Hubble new camera to view cosmos Flush with success after upgrading the Hubble Space Telescope's power system, the Columbia astronauts turned their attention to beefing up the observatory's scientific horsepower with installation of a $75 million camera during the mission's fourth spacewalk Thursday. FULL STORY SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY FULL MISSION INDEX

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Celebrating the successes of Faint Object Camera When the new Advanced Camera for Surveys was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope Thursday it replaced the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera. FOC has spent a record-breaking 4,340 days in space. That is nearly 12 years! FULL STORY

Hubble undergoes risky transplant by spacewalkers What was considered the riskiest portion of Columbia's Hubble Space Telescope service call went smoothly. The observatory was switched off for the first time since it was launched in April 1990, allowing spacewalkers John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan to replace the electrical heart of the telescope. FULL STORY SPACEWALK PREVIEW STORY

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Hubble fitted with second array during spacewalk Astronauts Jim Newman and Mike Massimino took their turn as the spacewalking duo this morning, heading into Columbia's payload bay for a successful seven-hour EVA to replace Hubble's other power-generating solar array and to swap out a suspect Reaction Wheel Assembly that is used to point the observatory. FULL STORY

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New solar wing attached to Hubble during spacewalk Shuttle Columbia astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan removed the Hubble Space Telescope's starboard solar array Monday morning and installed a new, more powerful array during a successful seven-hour spacewalk. It was the first of five consecutive days of spacewalks scheduled for Columbia's mission to rejuvenate the observatory. FULL STORY

Video coverage for subscribers only: VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING QT or RV VIDEO: GRUNSFELD FLOATS OUT OF AIRLOCK QT or RV VIDEO: LINNEHAN BEGINS HIS FIRST EVER SPACEWALK QT or RV VIDEO: OLD ARRAY IS DETACHED FROM HUBBLE QT or RV VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS STOW OLD ARRAY IN CARGO BAY QT or RV VIDEO: NEW SOLAR ARRAY IS SWUNG OPEN QT or RV VIDEO: BRIEFING ON HUBBLE SPACEWALKS QT or RV VIDEO: ANIMATION OF SOLAR ARRAY REPLACEMENT QT or RV MORE: COMPLETE SFN+ VIDEO INDEX (Updated!)
Columbia retrieves Hubble Space shuttle Columbia's robotic arm reached out and captured the 12 1/2-ton Hubble Space Telescope at 4:31 a.m. EST Sunday, setting the stage for five spacewalks to service and upgrade the observatory starting Monday morning. The telescope's solar arrays were later retracted successfully. RETRIEVAL STORY

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Cooling problem will not curtail Columbia's mission NASA managers decided this afternoon that a problem with one of space shuttle Columbia's two coolant loops will not force an early end to an ambitious mission to overhaul the Hubble Space Telescope. FULL STORY

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Columbia launched on Hubble service call Space shuttle Columbia was launched at morning's first light Friday in pursuit of the Hubble Space Telescope for a service call that will see five spacewalks performed to repair and upgrade the observatory. LAUNCH STORY

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Cold weather delays shuttle Columbia launch The forecast of cold temperatures at launch time Thursday has prompted NASA officials to delay liftoff of space shuttle Columbia by 24 hours. The launch has been rescheduled for 6:22 a.m. EST Friday when the weather is predicted to be warmer. Meanwhile, engineers continue to review the technical concern involving the shuttle's main landing gear. MISSION STATUS CENTER LAUNCH COUNTDOWN TIMELINE

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Hubble to undergo risky makeover by astronauts The Hubble Space Telescope has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $6 billion in the quarter century since the project was approved. But to astronomers around the world, the 24,000-pound satellite is, quite simply, priceless. Read a comprehensive five-part preview of the most technically challenging - and risky - overhaul and upgrade of Hubble that NASA has ever attempted. FULL REPORT COMPREHENSIVE MISSION FLIGHT PLAN QUICK LOOK FACTS AND FIGURES DAILY LAUNCH WINDOWS ASCENT EVENTS CHART

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Columbia's launch countdown is underway Countdown clocks have begun ticking at Kennedy Space Center for Thursday's sunrise blastoff of shuttle Columbia on the fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. The weather forecast is calling for a 30 percent chance cold temperatures will delay the launch. MISSION STATUS CENTER LAUNCH COUNTDOWN TIMELINE

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Space shuttle Columbia still set to launch February 28 Shuttle managers have affirmed plans to launch Columbia on a challenging Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission on February 28, assuming an ongoing technical analysis of bolts used in the ship's hydraulic units doesn't uncover a last-minute concern. MISSION STATUS CENTER

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Advanced Camera for Surveys headed to Hubble The Ball Aerospace-built Advanced Camera for Surveys is ready for its launch aboard the shuttle Columbia to be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during the upcoming servicing mission. ACS, as Hubble's new imaging workhorse, will survey far regions of the universe, search for extrasolar planets and observe weather and other features on planets in our own solar system. FULL STORY

Columbia rolls to pad Running five days late because of steering troubles with its transporter, space shuttle Columbia was rolled to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A on January 28. The shuttle is scheduled for blastoff February 28 on the fourth mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. MISSION STATUS CENTER

Shuttle astronauts to give Hubble telescope makeover Taking a break from space station assembly work, NASA is gearing up for the next Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, a high-stakes five-spacewalk flight in February to install new solar arrays, a critical power switching unit and a new camera to extend the observatory's scientific reach. FULL STORY

Past Missions

Endeavour shuttles station crew back to Earth The shuttle Endeavour glided back to Earth December 17, bringing three space station astronauts back to a starkly different post Sept. 11 world and leaving a fresh crew behind in orbit for a nearly six-month tour of duty. Touchdown occurred on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center at 12:55:10 p.m. EST. FULL COVERAGE

Changing of the guard aboard space station Alpha The Expedition Two astronauts capped their 167-day stay in space and left the international space station in the hands of Expedition Three during shuttle Discovery's crew exchange mission in August. FULL COVERAGE

Quest airlock added to international space station The Joint Airlock Quest was delivered to the international space station in July by space shuttle Atlantis, giving the outpost a new doorway for American and Russian spacewalkers. FULL COVERAGE

Station gets an arm and first tourist The crew of space shuttle Endeavour delivered the Canadian-built robotic arm to the international space station in April. The shuttle visit was immediately followed by Dennis Tito's historic joyride to the outpost. FULL COVERAGE

Station pioneers back on Earth after historic voyage After a dramatic reversal of fortune, the shuttle Discovery dropped out of orbit and glided to a pre-dawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center on March 21, bringing the international space station's first full-time crew back to Earth after a 141-day space odyssey. FULL COVERAGE

2001 began with flawless lab delivery The shuttle Atlantis delivered the $1.4 billion U.S. Destiny laboratory module to the international space station in February during a highly successful mission. FULL COVERAGE

Station's power-generating solar wings spread In December the astronauts of space shuttle Endeavour bolted a $600 million solar power tower to the international space station and unfurled the most powerful solar wings ever launched. FULL COVERAGE

Building a space outpost The crew of space shuttle Discovery carried out a complex four-spacewalk construction mission in October to mount a truss structure with gyroscopes and communications gear to the international space station and add another docking port. FULL COVERAGE

At a Glance
Mission: STS-109 (HST-SM3B)
Vehicle: Shuttle Columbia
Launch date: March 1, 2002
Launch time: 6:22 a.m. EST (1122 GMT)
Launch site: LC-39A, KSC
Landing date: March 12, 2002
Landing time: 4:32 a.m. EST (0932 GMT)
Landing site: SLF, KSC

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