The Hubble Space Telescope needs repair piece of work just like every other expectant piece of equipment . But servicing an orbital telescope 350 naut mi above the Earth is no simple-minded task . Here ’s a closeup look at how it ’s done .
We ’ll depend at the 2002 repairs to the scope , known as Servicing Mission 3B. This was a missionary post to update and advance a number of Hubble ’s systems , as well as add together new solar venire and an sophisticated camera that immensely increase the telescope ’s ability . The Florida key to making it all work was a replenishment Power Control Unit , which distribute the big businessman collected by the solar panels to Hubble ’s various system .
The permutation procedure was a seven - hour job , with work progressing through both faint and dark periods as Hubble orbit the Earth . fancy is a DCU education unit , which the spaceman practiced extensively on before their mission so they ’d know precisely what to do once they were floating in space .
The get the job done , astronauts disconnect 36 telegram bundle , then pulled out the large electronic ascendence box and put in a Modern one , reconnecting all the wire bundles . That would be a longsighted , difficult job for any electrician , but ideate doing it with a spacesuit on .
Visible in the images are the large grip for the astronauts to hold onto , and the aristocratical , livid and red retainer iteration . These allow the wire pile to be take in position , and more importantly held them in the correct social club so everything could be reconnected decently .
bushel and service missions like this one , extended Hubble ’s imposing vocation well beyond the original contrive lifetime – it ’s been creditworthy for several turning point discovery and has resulted in the publication of over 6,000 scientific papers .
This breeding unit resides at the Smithsonian Institution ’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington , D.C. It ’s part of a preview for a new showing on space geographic expedition that will open in 2011 . Below , you may see the Hubble after its 2002 repairs , floating in orbit .
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