STS-103
Encyclopedia
STS-103 was a Hubble Space Telescope
servicing mission by Space Shuttle
Discovery
. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center
, Florida, on 19 December 1999 and returned on 27 December 1999.
The primary objective of STS-103 was the Hubble Servicing Mission 3A. STS-103 had four scheduled Extravehicular Activity (EVA) days where four crew members worked in pairs on alternating days to renew and refurbish the telescope.
NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing mission that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the telescope's six gyroscope
s failed. Three gyroscopes must be working to meet the telescope's very precise pointing requirements, and the telescope's flight rules dictated that NASA consider a "call-up" mission before a fourth gyroscope failed. Four new gyros were installed during the first servicing mission (STS-61
) in December 1993 and all six gyros were working during the second servicing mission (STS-82
) in February 1997. Since then, a gyro failed in 1997, another in 1998 and a third in 1999. The Hubble team believed they understood the cause of the failures, although they could not be certain until the gyros were returned from space. Having fewer than three working gyroscopes would have precluded science observations, although the telescope would have remained safely in orbit until a servicing crew arrived.
Hubble's gyros spin at a constant rate of 19,200 rpm on gas bearings. This wheel is mounted in a sealed cylinder, which floats in a thick fluid. Electricity is carried to the motor by thin wires (approximately the size of a human hair). It is believed that oxygen in the pressurized air used during the assembly process caused the wires to corrode and break. The new gyros were assembled using nitrogen instead of oxygen. Each gyroscope is packaged in a Rate Sensor assembly. The Rate Sensors are packaged in pairs into an assembly called a Rate Sensor Unit (RSU). It is the RSUs that the STS-103's astronauts changed. The RSUs each weigh 11 kilograms (24.3 lb) and are 12.8 by 10.5 by 8.9 inches (325 by 267 by 226 mm) in size.
In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the December flight, the crew replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and the spacecraft's computer. The new computer reduced the burden of flight software maintenance and significantly lowered costs. The new computer was 20 times faster and had six times the memory of the DF-224
computer previously used on Hubble. It weighs 32 kilograms (70.5 lb) and is 18.8 by 18 by 13 inches (478 by 457 by 330 mm) in size. The FGS installed was a refurbished unit that was returned from Servicing Mission 2. It weighs 217 kilograms (478.4 lb) and is 5.5 by 4 by 2 feet (1.68 by 1.22 by 0.61 m) in size.
A voltage/temperature improvement kit (VIK) was also installed to protect spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft goes into safe mode
. The VIK modifies the charge cutoff voltage
to a lower level to prevent battery overcharging and associated overheating. The VIK weighs about 1.4 kilograms (3.1 lb).
The repair mission also installed a new S-Band Single Access Transmitter (SSAT). Hubble has two identical SSATs onboard and can operate with only one. The SSATs send data from Hubble through NASA's Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to the ground. The new transmitter replaced one that failed in 1998. The SSAT weighs 3.9 kilograms (8.6 lb) and is 14 by 8 by 2¾ inches (356 by 203 by 70 mm).
A spare solid state recorder was also installed to allow efficient handling of high-volume data. Prior to the second servicing mission, Hubble used three 1970s-style reel-to-reel tape recorders. During the second servicing mission, one of these mechanical recorders was replaced with a digital solid state recorder. During this mission a second mechanical recorder was replaced by a second Solid State Recorder. The new recorder could hold approximately 10 times as much data as the old unit (12 gigabytes instead of 1.2 gigabytes). The recorder weighs 11.3 kilograms (24.9 lb) and is 12 by 9 by 7 inches in size.
Finally, the EVA crew replaced the telescope's outer insulation that had degraded. The insulation is necessary to control the internal temperature on the Hubble. The New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL) and Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF) help protect Hubble from the harsh environment of space. It protects the telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes it experiences during each 90 minute orbit as it moves from sunlight to darkness.
STS-103 also carried hundreds of thousands of student signatures as part of the Student Signatures in Space (S3) program. The unique project provided elementary schools (selected on a rotating basis) with special posters to be autographed by students, then scanned onto disks and carried aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission.
On STS-103, Discovery reached the highest orbit ever flown in the program's history, at the apogee of 609 kilometres (378.4 mi) above Earth. It was the Discovery's last solo spaceflight. All later missions by Discovery were International Space Station
missions.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld, who was one of the mission specialists on this mission, brought a "Planet Mars Flag" aboard Discovery.
.
Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
servicing mission by Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
, Florida, on 19 December 1999 and returned on 27 December 1999.
Crew
Mission parameters
- MassMassMass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
:- Orbiter liftoff: 112493 kilograms (248,004.6 lb)
- Orbiter landing: 95768 kilograms (211,132.3 lb)
- PerigeePerigeePerigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"...
: 563 kilometres (349.8 mi) - Apogee: 609 kilometres (378.4 mi) (highest Shuttle orbit on record)
- InclinationInclinationInclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
: 28.5° - PeriodOrbital periodThe orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...
: 96.4 min
Space walks
- Smith and Grunsfeld – EVA 1
- EVA 1 start: 22 December 1999 – 18:54 UTC
- EVA 1 end: 23 December 1999 – 03:09 UTC
- Duration: 8 hours, 55 minutes
- Foale and Nicollier – EVA 2
- EVA 2 start: 23 December 1999 – 19:06 UTC
- EVA 2 end: 24 December 1999 – 03:16 UTC
- Duration: 8 hours, 10 minutes
- Smith and Grunsfeld – EVA 3
- EVA 3 start: 24 December 1999 – 19:17 UTC
- EVA 3 end: 25 December 1999 – 03:25 UTC
- Duration: 8 hours, 08 minutes
Mission highlights
NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing mission that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the telescope's six gyroscope
Gyroscope
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation...
s failed. Three gyroscopes must be working to meet the telescope's very precise pointing requirements, and the telescope's flight rules dictated that NASA consider a "call-up" mission before a fourth gyroscope failed. Four new gyros were installed during the first servicing mission (STS-61
STS-61
STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission launched on 2 December 1993 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission restored the spaceborne observatory's vision, marred by spherical aberration, with the...
) in December 1993 and all six gyros were working during the second servicing mission (STS-82
STS-82
STS-82 was a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission by Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 11 February 1997 and returned to earth on 21 February 1997 at Kennedy Space Center.-Crew:...
) in February 1997. Since then, a gyro failed in 1997, another in 1998 and a third in 1999. The Hubble team believed they understood the cause of the failures, although they could not be certain until the gyros were returned from space. Having fewer than three working gyroscopes would have precluded science observations, although the telescope would have remained safely in orbit until a servicing crew arrived.
Hubble's gyros spin at a constant rate of 19,200 rpm on gas bearings. This wheel is mounted in a sealed cylinder, which floats in a thick fluid. Electricity is carried to the motor by thin wires (approximately the size of a human hair). It is believed that oxygen in the pressurized air used during the assembly process caused the wires to corrode and break. The new gyros were assembled using nitrogen instead of oxygen. Each gyroscope is packaged in a Rate Sensor assembly. The Rate Sensors are packaged in pairs into an assembly called a Rate Sensor Unit (RSU). It is the RSUs that the STS-103's astronauts changed. The RSUs each weigh 11 kilograms (24.3 lb) and are 12.8 by 10.5 by 8.9 inches (325 by 267 by 226 mm) in size.
In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the December flight, the crew replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and the spacecraft's computer. The new computer reduced the burden of flight software maintenance and significantly lowered costs. The new computer was 20 times faster and had six times the memory of the DF-224
DF-224
The DF-224 is a space-qualified computer used in space missions from the 1980s. It was built by Rockwell Autonetics. As with many spacecraft computers, the design is very redundant, since servicing in space is at best difficult and often impossible. The configuration had three CPUs, one active...
computer previously used on Hubble. It weighs 32 kilograms (70.5 lb) and is 18.8 by 18 by 13 inches (478 by 457 by 330 mm) in size. The FGS installed was a refurbished unit that was returned from Servicing Mission 2. It weighs 217 kilograms (478.4 lb) and is 5.5 by 4 by 2 feet (1.68 by 1.22 by 0.61 m) in size.
A voltage/temperature improvement kit (VIK) was also installed to protect spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft goes into safe mode
Safe mode (spacecraft)
Safe mode is an operating mode of a modern spacecraft during which all non-essential systems are shut down and only essential functions such as thermal management, radio reception and attitude control are active.-Triggering events:...
. The VIK modifies the charge cutoff voltage
Cutoff voltage
In electronics, the cutoff voltage is the voltage at which a battery is considered fully discharged, and it is good practice to stop discharge at this point...
to a lower level to prevent battery overcharging and associated overheating. The VIK weighs about 1.4 kilograms (3.1 lb).
The repair mission also installed a new S-Band Single Access Transmitter (SSAT). Hubble has two identical SSATs onboard and can operate with only one. The SSATs send data from Hubble through NASA's Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to the ground. The new transmitter replaced one that failed in 1998. The SSAT weighs 3.9 kilograms (8.6 lb) and is 14 by 8 by 2¾ inches (356 by 203 by 70 mm).
A spare solid state recorder was also installed to allow efficient handling of high-volume data. Prior to the second servicing mission, Hubble used three 1970s-style reel-to-reel tape recorders. During the second servicing mission, one of these mechanical recorders was replaced with a digital solid state recorder. During this mission a second mechanical recorder was replaced by a second Solid State Recorder. The new recorder could hold approximately 10 times as much data as the old unit (12 gigabytes instead of 1.2 gigabytes). The recorder weighs 11.3 kilograms (24.9 lb) and is 12 by 9 by 7 inches in size.
Finally, the EVA crew replaced the telescope's outer insulation that had degraded. The insulation is necessary to control the internal temperature on the Hubble. The New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL) and Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF) help protect Hubble from the harsh environment of space. It protects the telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes it experiences during each 90 minute orbit as it moves from sunlight to darkness.
STS-103 also carried hundreds of thousands of student signatures as part of the Student Signatures in Space (S3) program. The unique project provided elementary schools (selected on a rotating basis) with special posters to be autographed by students, then scanned onto disks and carried aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission.
On STS-103, Discovery reached the highest orbit ever flown in the program's history, at the apogee of 609 kilometres (378.4 mi) above Earth. It was the Discovery's last solo spaceflight. All later missions by Discovery were International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
missions.
Astronaut John Grunsfeld, who was one of the mission specialists on this mission, brought a "Planet Mars Flag" aboard Discovery.
Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...
.
Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
| Flight day | Song | Artist/composer | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 2 | "Takin' Care of Business Takin' Care of Business "Takin' Care of Business" is a song written by Randy Bachman and first recorded by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive for their 1973 album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II.-Development:... " |
Bachman–Turner Overdrive | wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 3 | "Rendezvous" | Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 4 | "Hucklebuck" | Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers Beau Jocque Beau Jacques was an American zydeco musician active in the 1990s.Beau Jacques is known for his gruff vocals, his fusion of many musical styles onto zydeco, and above all, for the powerful energy of his rhythm and sound... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 6 | "Magic Carpet Ride Magic Carpet Ride "Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the Canadian-American band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on the album The Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at No. 3 in the US, and becoming the band's second-biggest hit,... " |
Steppenwolf Steppenwolf (band) Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 7 | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | Bing Crosby Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 8 | "We’re So Good Together" | Reba McEntire Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
| Day 9 | "The Cup of Life" | Ricky Martin Ricky Martin Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide... |
wav mp3 Transcript |
See also
- Space scienceSpace scienceThe term space science may mean:* The study of issues specifically related to space travel and space exploration, including space medicine.* Science performed in outer space ....
- Space shuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
- List of space shuttle missions
- List of human spaceflights chronologically
- Planet Mars Flag, which was brought along on the mission