Hubble returned to science operations
Engineers today completed their testing of their computer hardware fix on the Hubble Space Telescope and took it out of safe mode, allowing science observations to resume after more than a month.
The first observation is scheduled for Saturday afternoon after some instrument calibrations are completed. Most observations missed while science operations were suspended will be rescheduled for a later date.
Now let us all pray that there are no more major failures for the next few years until the U.S. capabilities in space grow and a relatively fast mission to repair the telescope is possible.
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Engineers today completed their testing of their computer hardware fix on the Hubble Space Telescope and took it out of safe mode, allowing science observations to resume after more than a month.
The first observation is scheduled for Saturday afternoon after some instrument calibrations are completed. Most observations missed while science operations were suspended will be rescheduled for a later date.
Now let us all pray that there are no more major failures for the next few years until the U.S. capabilities in space grow and a relatively fast mission to repair the telescope is possible.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Behind the black comments
Hey NASA, if you can throw 5 million for review of Nuclear engines, how about you ask your contracting team to start the bidding process for “the development of various design strategies for the specified performance requirements” to service Hubble in the next 3-5 years?
Just to recap previous posts, a Manned version of Starship, the Dream Chaser, and Dragon are potential answers to be used to upgrade Hubble when it eventually goes dark in the next few years.
Most probably Starship will be the “space station on the go” that would have the capability needed at the most competitive price. Let’s see some competition!
The idea of an orbiting refuel/repair station could be quit attractive not just to the Space Telescope, but also to sats that have high maneuverability and are able to rendezvous with it. Imagine the X-37B with the ability to refuel and refresh payloads without landing. A manned Starship would do the trick nicely.
An intriguing idea… Bob, do you think there is any spacecraft in development right now that could service the Hubble?
Lee Stevenson: Every manned spacecraft, as well as several unmanned robots, both existing and in development right now, could service Hubble.
All however would require major refitting to do the job. Dragon needs a robot arm, doesn’t have an airlock, and has other limitations. It was not designed with such a task in mind. Similar issues exist with Starliner.
Northrop Grumman’s MEV robot for extending the life of geosynchronous satellites demonstrates that robots could do the job, but once again, it was not engineered to work on Hubble, and a new robot entirely would have to be designed and built.
And then we come to Starship. The rocket puts so much payload into orbit that it could very easily be outfitted for this job. First however it needs to become an operational rocket and spaceship. And once again, even then it would still have to be specifically adapted to the task.
Fixing Hubble is doable, but we must not underestimate the engineering required to do it. This is not like Star Trek, where they fire the dohicky to upload the quantum energy to reactivate the computer, all in five seconds of calculation. This is reality, and it is hard and challenging.
Which of course is why it is so much fun to do.
Absent a Canadarm, which is very expensive and requires several years of lead time, are there simpler plans available for securing the Hubble to a larger craft so it can be worked on without risk of starting a nasty spin?
Dragon XL atop a fuel fat hypergolic upper stage launched by Falcon Heavy. Move Hubble to ISS, leave module to empty trash. Fix Hubble at ISS.
Simplist option. The Shuttle orbiter had stabilizing mass. Capsules don’t…it might bang against Hubbles flank. Capture from the back and thrust it to ISS…where the dog wags the tail.
Robert noted: “This is reality, and it is hard and challenging. Which of course is why it is so much fun to do.”
And as good an advertisement for Engineering School as can be. Engineers don’t have the ‘best’ jobs, or the most lucrative, but they do some of the coolest work; defined as ‘making things happen’.
Star Trek Original Series: “Obsession”
“Cross-circuiting to B….”
https://youtu.be/krmrpDUzcIk?t=42
Wayne, the man with a video for every occasion. Cross-circuiting to B works every time. Even got the red shirt back.
Congratulations to the Hubble team. Fixing bugs is fun. I imagine the packed conference room with higher ups sitting around the table and everyone else lining the walls as subject matter experts presented data and theories and the resulting discussions.
James-
Blair deserves full credit for that particular ST clip. (and yeah, I’m of a mind that there exists a clip, for most everything. Finding them however, is always a challenge, especially now…)
General Question:
When does the Webb telescope launch? IIRC it’s like’ on Halloween?
here we go….
Armageddon
Russian Cosmonaut scene
“This is how we fix problems…..”
https://youtu.be/dEkOT3IngMQ
Here is my suggestion for a Hubble repair mission. Modify a Dragon Cargo craft. It will have an extendable structure in the trunk with a rudimentary arm. Cargo Dragon will carry the bulky EVA suits and other equipment. This configuration is launched to rendezvous with Hubble. Another crewed Dragon launches later and rendezvous with the cargo Dragon and they dock nose to nose. The double Dragon then grabs the Hubble and connects the telescope to the extended attach structure. The repair astronauts enter the cargo Dragon and put on the EVA suits. The cargo Dragon will act as the airlock. The astronauts exit via the side hatch to perform their work. Replacement parts will be in both the cargo and crew trunks. With repair over, both Dragons will reenter. The cargo dragons will return the space suits and other parts for study. The crew Dragon will return the crew. The arm and Hubble base will be disposed with the trunks.
James Street wrote: “Fixing bugs is fun.”
Well, they might make for nice “war stories,” but at the time there is much concern and worry.
I once worked in the department that built a solar X-ray telescope that flew on the SOHO satellite. Early in the mission a bad command caused the satellite to go into safe mode. It took a while for the controllers and satellite experts to recover it back to operations, but in the meantime we were worried that our telescope had been damaged from cold temperatures. Fortunately, after SOHO was recovered and back in service, the telescope resumed normal operations with out any apparent damage.
“I imagine the packed conference room with higher ups sitting around the table and everyone else lining the walls as subject matter experts presented data and theories and the resulting discussions.”
I’ve been to one of those, with NASA on the line troubleshooting a problem with the deployment of the original American solar arrays (they were sticky). This was before the large rotating end trusses that they have now (I was working on the motor that rotates them). I was one of those who was lining the wall. Typically, this type of meeting happens after there has been a lot of analysis and discussion on possible causes and solutions but that there is not yet enough information to know which solution to try, so they may do some amount of trouble shooting in real time.
As the subject matter experts (the cognizant engineers) listened and watched on a screen, they saw that the second array was just as sticky as the first, which had been deployed a few days earlier. They had just concluded that the astronaut should try a slower deployment speed when the astronaut made the same suggestion to the CapCom. A moment later a voice from NASA was on the speaker phone repeated the astronaut’s question. Having the answer ready, the lead engineer said “yes,” and a few seconds later we could hear the CapCom tell the astronaut to give it a try. The solution worked fairly well.
The problem turned out to be that these solar arrays had been stored for longer than originally intended or designed. This caused one of the materials to become sticky. Launch delays can result in a variety of problems.