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Delayed Hubble spacewalk begins
Glitch delays service call
February 14, 1997
Web posted at: 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT)JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- Following a last-minute delay, two astronauts left the shuttle Discovery late Thursday on the first of four spacewalks of the Hubble Space Telescope's $350 million refurbishment.
Astronauts Mark Lee and Steve Smith, wearing bulky white spacesuits, climbed out into the shuttle's open cargo bay at 11:45 p.m. EST as the shuttle soared 360 miles above Australia.
The spacewalk, to fit Hubble with two new scientific instruments, was held up for one hour and 45 minutes after one of the telescope's two fragile solar arrays swung around violently and unexpectedly.
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Flight controllers said air vented outside from the airlock, which was mounted for the first time in the shuttle's cargo bay, struck the 40-foot long panel and set it moving. The delicate arrays appeared unharmed by the incident, officials said.
"We saw something real unusual," Discovery crewman Joe Tanner informed mission control when the mishap occurred. "The ... array moved from horizontal to vertical and then about halfway back to horizontal." The rapid movement of the 40-foot-long array occurred in just five seconds, he said.
Discovery, Hubble link up
Earlier Thursday, after a two-day chase, the space shuttle Discovery's 50-foot-long robot arm, operated by astronaut Steve Hawley, reached out and gently captured the silvery 12-ton Hubble telescope at 3:33 a.m. EST.
It was NASA's first look at Hubble since December 1993, when astronauts last visited the telescope.
Since then, the Hubble telescope has provided scientists with the first conclusive evidence for the existence of huge black holes and discovery of planetary nurseries around stars.
The telescope has also collected light emission data from distant galaxies and other evidence that the universe may be much younger than previously thought.
Building a new and improved 'scope
The telescope has traveled 996 million miles since its launch and circled Earth more than 37,000 times.
During this service call, the astronauts plan to install two improved scientific instruments, each about the size of a large refrigerator.
A $105 million multipurpose infrared camera will allow astronomers to see deeper into the universe than ever before and may discover planets orbiting other stars, while a $125 million improved spectrograph will help in the search for massive black holes devouring stars in the center of galaxies.
Other planned upgrades included a new digital tape recorder, a more accurate guidance sensor for pointing the telescope and various improved electronic boxes.
The refurbishment work will be complicated by the telescope's fragile electricity-generating solar arrays. The twin wings appeared to be warped in television pictures beamed back during the shuttle's final approach.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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CNN Interactive's extended coverageRelated stories:
- 'It's a beautiful sight' - February 13, 1997
- Shuttle Discovery blasts off on Hubble service mission - February 11, 1997
- Anxious NASA officials watch high readings on shuttle - February 10, 1997
- NASA looks for oxygen leak; shuttle liftoff still on schedul - February 9, 1997
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- Hubble Space Telescope Science
- Johnson Space Center Shuttle Countdown STS-82
- Space Station Mir Info Page
- Tracking the mission
- Meet the Crew
- Watch the crew - NASA TV
- Watch the crew - streaming video
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