Jan. 8, 2008

Donald L. Savage
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0183
Donald.L.Savage@nasa.gov

Susan Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-7745
susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-001

NASA ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF HUBBLE SERVICING MISSION

AUSTIN, Texas - NASA scientists and a space shuttle astronaut today 
outlined details of a challenging mission that will repair and 
upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008. The Hubble servicing 
mission, designated STS-125, will equip the orbiting observatory with 
far greater capabilities than ever had before to explore the nature 
and history of our universe. 

Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off in August with a crew 
of seven astronauts and a cargo of equipment, tools and new 
instruments on the fifth and final mission to service the venerable 
telescope, which orbits 350 miles above the Earth. The shuttle also 
will carry an IMAX camera to record the historic mission for a film 
scheduled for release in 2010.

At the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Alan 
Stern, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at 
NASA Headquarters, Washington, said, "Hubble is, without 
exaggeration, a national treasure, and all of NASA is looking forward 
to seeing it receive this tune up and upgrade. I think Americans are 
going to be excited when they see the results of this exciting 
shuttle mission flower into new discoveries about the solar system 
and the larger universe we live in. And let's face it; it doesn't get 
much more exciting than sending a team of astronauts and 
sophisticated high-tech instruments to make the Hubble better than it 
ever was before." 

The 11-day shuttle mission features five spacewalks. During those 
spacewalks, astronauts will install two powerful new science 
instruments, a new set of the gyroscopes that help stabilize the 
telescope, and batteries and thermal blankets to extend Hubble's 
operational life until at least 2013. Also, if all goes well, a 
degrading Fine Guidance Sensor unit, one of three aboard Hubble, will 
be replaced with a refurbished unit to help maintain the telescope's 
ability to point and focus on astronomical objects throughout the 
universe.

"As both an astronaut and an astronomer, the opportunity to go back to 
Hubble is more than a dream come true," said John Grunsfeld, who will 
be the mission's lead spacewalker. "This mission promises to be quite 
challenging. NASA has put together the most experienced Hubble crew 
ever, with three Hubble veterans. The crew and mission team are in 
full throttle training, looking forward to launch and the hard work 
of servicing Hubble." 

Astronauts will attempt the first ever on-orbit repair of two existing 
instruments - the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the 
Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The ACS was the most-used 
instrument on the telescope until its failure last January after five 
years of operations. The STIS - the most sophisticated spectrograph 
ever on Hubble - took detailed pictures of celestial objects and 
separated light into its components to diagnose the physical 
conditions of galaxies, stars, planets and nebulae. 

The new instruments to be installed on the telescope are the Cosmic 
Origins Spectrograph, or COS, and the Wide Field Camera 3, or WFC3. 
Among its many goals, COS will probe the "cosmic web." This 
large-scale structure of the universe has its form determined by the 
gravity of dark matter and can be traced by galaxies and 
intergalactic gas. COS also will explore how this web has evolved 
over billions of years and the role it plays in the formation and 
evolution of galaxies. The WFC3 will be Hubble's first "panchromatic" 
camera, providing wide field-of-view and remarkably sharp images over 
a wide range of colors to supplement other imaging capabilities 
aboard the Hubble. 

"Our goal for this mission is to leave Hubble at the apex of its 
scientific capabilities," said David Leckrone, Hubble senior project 
scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "Our 
two new instruments, plus the hoped-for repairs of STIS and ACS, will 
give astronomers a full 'tool box' with which to attack some really 
profound problems, ranging from the nature of dark matter and dark 
energy, to the chemical composition of the atmospheres of planets 
around other stars."

Scientists are confident that some of Hubble's greatest discoveries 
are yet to come.

"With the new capabilities we expect to have after this shuttle 
servicing mission, I fully expect Hubble's most impressive 
accomplishments to lie in its future, eclipsing even its well-known 
past successes," Stern said.

For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

	
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