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STS-109
2002 American crewed spaceflight to the Hubble Space Telescope
2002 American crewed spaceflight to the Hubble Space Telescope
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | STS-109 |
| names_list | Space Transportation System-109 |
| image | STS-109 Repaired and Reconfigured Hubble.jpg |
| image_upright | 0.75 |
| image_caption | The Hubble Space Telescope in Columbia's payload bay towards the end of the mission |
| insignia | STS-109 patch.svg |
| spacecraft | |
| mission_type | Hubble servicing |
| operator | NASA |
| COSPAR_ID | |
| SATCAT | |
| orbits_completed | 165 |
| distance_travelled | 6300000 km |
| mission_duration | 10 days, 22 hours, 11 minutes, 09 seconds |
| launch_mass | 116989 kg |
| landing_mass | 100564 kg |
| launch_site | Kennedy, LC-39A |
| launch_date | UTC, 6:22:02 am EST |
| landing_date | UTC, 4:33:10 am EST |
| landing_site | Kennedy, SLF Runway 33 |
| crew_size | 7 |
| crew_members | |
| crew_photo | STS-109 crew.jpg |
| crew_photo_caption | (L-R): Michael J. Massimino, Richard M. Linnehan, Duane G. Carey, Scott D. Altman, Nancy J. Currie, John M. Grunsfeld and James H. Newman. |
| apsis | gee |
| orbit_reference | Geocentric |
| orbit_regime | Low Earth |
| orbit_periapsis | 486 km |
| orbit_apoapsis | 578 km |
| orbit_period | 95.3 minutes |
| orbit_inclination | 28.5 degrees |
| programme | Space Shuttle program |
| previous_mission | STS-108 |
| next_mission | STS-110 |
| programme2 | Hubble Space Telescope missions |
| previous_mission2 | STS-103 (SM3A) |
| next_mission2 | STS-125 (SM4) |
STS-109 (Hubble Servicing Mission 3B 'SM3B') was a Space Shuttle mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 1 March 2002. It was the 108th mission of the Space Shuttle program, the 27th flight of the orbiter Columbia It was also the last successful mission of the orbiter Columbia before the ill-fated STS-107 mission, which culminated in the Columbia disaster.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was placed in orbit during mission STS-31 on 25 April 1990. Initially designed to operate for 15 years, plans for periodic service and refurbishment were incorporated into its mission from the start. After the successful completion of the second planned service mission (SM2) by the crew of STS-82 in February 1997, three of the telescope's six gyroscopes failed. NASA decided to split the third planned service mission into two parts, SM3A and SM3B. A fifth and final servicing mission, STS-125 (SM4) launched on 11 May 2009. The work performed during SM4 kept HST in operation through 2024.
Crew
Flight Engineer
Crew seat assignments
| Seat | Launch | Landing | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Space Shuttle seating plan.svg | 150px]] | ||||||||
| Seats 1–4 are on the flight deck. | |||||||||
| Seats 5–7 are on the mid-deck. | |||||||||
| Altman | |||||||||
| Carey | |||||||||
| Grunsfeld | Linnehan | ||||||||
| Currie-Gregg | |||||||||
| Linnehan | Grunsfeld | ||||||||
| Newman | |||||||||
| Massimino |
Spacewalks
| EVA | Team | Start – UTC | End – UTC | Duration | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grunsfeld | ||||||||
| Linnehan | 4 March 2002, 06:37 | 4 March 2002, 13:38 | 7:01 | ||||||
| 2 | Newman | ||||||||
| Massimino | 5 March 2002, 06:40 | 5 March 2002, 13:56 | 7:16 | ||||||
| 3 | Grunsfeld | ||||||||
| Linnehan | 6 March 2002, 08:28 | 6 March 2002, 15:16 | 6:48 | ||||||
| 4 | Newman | ||||||||
| Massimino | 7 March 2002, 09:00 | title=STS-109 Mission Archives | publisher=NASA | url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-109.html | access-date=30 July 2009 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201125/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-109.html | url-status=dead}} | 7:18 |
| 5 | Grunsfeld | ||||||||
| Linnehan | 8 March 2002, 08:46 | title=STS-109 Status Report #16 | publisher=NASA | date=8 March 2002 | url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts109/STS-109-16.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020606171419/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts109/STS-109-16.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=6 June 2002}} | 7:32 |
Mission highlights
The purpose of STS-109 was to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). It was Columbia's first flight following an extensive two and a half year modification period (its most recent mission being STS-93). During the mission the crew installed a new science instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), new rigid solar arrays (SA3), a new Power Control Unit (PCU) and an experimental cryocooler for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Columbia also reboosted HST to a higher orbit.
STS-109 Launch (March 1, 2002)]]
The STS-109 astronauts performed a total of five spacewalks in five consecutive days to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacewalkers received assistance from their crewmates inside Columbia. Currie operated the Shuttle's robot arm while Altman was her backup. Carey and Altman documented the EVAs with video and still images.
Accomplishments of the spacewalks included the installation of new solar arrays, a new camera, a new Power Control Unit, a Reaction Wheel Assembly and an experimental cooling system for the NICMOS unit. STS-109 accumulated a total of 35 hours, 55 minutes of EVA time. Following STS-109, a total of 18 spacewalks had been conducted during four Space Shuttle missions to service Hubble (the others being STS-61, STS-82, STS-103 and STS-125) for a total of 129 hours, 10 minutes by 14 different astronauts.
Columbia made its twenty-seventh and last successful landing at Kennedy Space Center, as on its next mission, STS-107, it disintegrated on re-entry, killing all aboard.
STS-109 is considered a night launch, as sunrise was at 6:47 am, and Columbia launched at 6:22 am EST, 25 minutes before sunrise.
References
References
- "Mission STS-109". NASA.
- "The Hubble Space Telescope: SM3B". NASA.
- "The Hubble Space Telescope: Deployment". NASA.
- (June 1993). "Servicing History and Long-Term Plans". NASA.
- "The Hubble Space Telescope: SM3A". NASA.
- "STS-125: Final Shuttle Mission to Hubble Space Telescope". NASA.
- "The Hubble Space Telescope: SM4". NASA.
- "STS-109". Spacefacts.
- "STS-109 Mission Archives". NASA.
- (7 March 2002). "STS-109 Status Report #14". NASA.
- (8 March 2002). "STS-109 Status Report #16". NASA.
- (26 February 2002). "Cold front threatens shuttle launch". CBS News.
- Harwood, William. (1 March 2002). "Columbia rockets into space". CBS News.
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