WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.435 [background music] 2 00:00:01.435 --> 00:00:04.204 Welcome to mission control for the iconic Hubble Space 3 00:00:04.204 --> 00:00:08.575 Telescope. This is a virtual 360 degree tour of the facility, so 4 00:00:08.575 --> 00:00:11.745 look around. You are currently in the lobby outside of the 5 00:00:11.745 --> 00:00:15.415 Space Telescope Operations Control Center at NASA’s Goddard 6 00:00:15.415 --> 00:00:18.552 Space Flight Center where the day to day operations for Hubble 7 00:00:18.552 --> 00:00:23.190 are conducted. The tour starts next to a 1/5th scale model of 8 00:00:23.190 --> 00:00:26.727 Hubble. The real telescope is about the size of a large 9 00:00:26.727 --> 00:00:31.498 school bus, and would weigh 27.000 pounds on earth. Hubble 10 00:00:31.498 --> 00:00:35.202 works like many backyard telescopes. It has two main 11 00:00:35.202 --> 00:00:37.704 mirrors to gather light from the Universe and bring it into 12 00:00:37.704 --> 00:00:42.609 focus: a primary mirror almost 8 feet across, and a secondary 13 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:47.147 mirror that is one foot across. Light that enters the telescope 14 00:00:47.147 --> 00:00:49.816 hits the main mirror and gets reflected toward the smaller 15 00:00:49.816 --> 00:00:53.820 secondary mirror. The secondary mirror then reflects the light 16 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:57.024 back through a small hole in the primary, where it enters 17 00:00:57.024 --> 00:00:59.826 Hubble’s science instruments housed in the back part of the 18 00:00:59.826 --> 00:01:04.097 spacecraft. Hubble has three types of instruments that 19 00:01:04.097 --> 00:01:09.102 analyze light from the universe: Cameras such as its main camera 20 00:01:09.102 --> 00:01:13.574 – the Wide Field Camera 3; spectrographs such as Hubble’s 21 00:01:13.574 --> 00:01:17.444 newest one, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph; And 22 00:01:17.444 --> 00:01:22.082 interferometers which are called Fine Guidance Sensors. In the 23 00:01:22.082 --> 00:01:25.085 middle of the spacecraft there are four 100-pound reaction 24 00:01:25.085 --> 00:01:29.423 wheels used to reorient the observatory. Based upon Newton’s 25 00:01:29.423 --> 00:01:32.659 Third Law of Motion — for every action there is an equal and 26 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:36.630 opposite reaction — turning a reaction wheel in one direction 27 00:01:36.630 --> 00:01:40.133 causes Hubble to turn the opposite way. Because Hubble is 28 00:01:40.133 --> 00:01:43.637 so massive, it only turns at the speed of a minute hand on a 29 00:01:43.637 --> 00:01:48.308 clock. On the wall you see two images of an incredible star 30 00:01:48.308 --> 00:01:51.311 nursery in the Eagle Nebula nicknamed the Pillars of 31 00:01:51.311 --> 00:01:56.049 Creation. These images, among Hubble’s most famous, reveal how 32 00:01:56.049 --> 00:01:58.585 different the pillars appear in visible light and in 33 00:01:58.585 --> 00:02:01.989 near-infrared light. The visible-light image shows small 34 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:04.691 tips that contain newborn stars and budding stars. The 35 00:02:04.691 --> 00:02:07.294 near-infrared light can see through much of the gas and 36 00:02:07.294 --> 00:02:10.764 dust, revealing thousands of stars behind the nebula and 37 00:02:10.764 --> 00:02:15.135 inside the pillars. Further over, you see another image on 38 00:02:15.135 --> 00:02:19.172 the wall of astronauts in space servicing Hubble. These 39 00:02:19.172 --> 00:02:22.342 servicing missions included numerous spacewalks to help fix 40 00:02:22.342 --> 00:02:26.046 and upgrade the telescope. The astronauts left Hubble in 41 00:02:26.046 --> 00:02:29.983 outstanding condition in 2009 during the final servicing 42 00:02:29.983 --> 00:02:32.319 mission and it is still at the peak of its scientific 43 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:37.657 capability today. Over by the windows is a tool box that was 44 00:02:37.657 --> 00:02:41.828 used to transport tools into space.  Known as the Auxiliary 45 00:02:41.828 --> 00:02:45.766 Transport Module, it provided storage for the tools and safe 46 00:02:45.766 --> 00:02:47.768 passage to and from orbit, protecting the tools from the 47 00:02:47.768 --> 00:02:49.903 extreme cold of space. Two similar enclosures flew aboard 48 00:02:49.903 --> 00:02:56.443 the final Hubble servicing mission. You are now in the 49 00:02:56.443 --> 00:03:00.313 Mission Operations Room. This is the command center where flight 50 00:03:00.313 --> 00:03:03.850 engineers communicate with Hubble. Every day they send 51 00:03:03.850 --> 00:03:07.587 commands to Hubble’s computers to perform daily tasks, such as 52 00:03:07.587 --> 00:03:11.291 coordinating the science instruments. They also retrieve 53 00:03:11.291 --> 00:03:14.227 all of Hubble’s science and engineering data and make sure 54 00:03:14.227 --> 00:03:17.898 that none of it is missing or corrupted. The flight engineers 55 00:03:17.898 --> 00:03:21.435 are also responsible for monitoring the 10,000 plus items 56 00:03:21.435 --> 00:03:24.471 in that engineering data to make sure that Hubble is operating 57 00:03:24.471 --> 00:03:27.574 safely and properly. If something isn’t working 58 00:03:27.574 --> 00:03:32.312 correctly, they follow prepared contingency plans. Right now the 59 00:03:32.312 --> 00:03:35.582 team is doing routine activities that include uplinking orbit 60 00:03:35.582 --> 00:03:38.585 information and clearing memory on the spacecraft for new 61 00:03:38.585 --> 00:03:44.024 messages. Prior to 2011, this room was staffed 24 hours a day, 62 00:03:44.024 --> 00:03:47.627 7 days a week. But now most of the daily functions are 63 00:03:47.627 --> 00:03:52.332 automated and it is only staffed 8 hours a day. 5 days a week. If 64 00:03:52.332 --> 00:03:55.168 a problem comes up while the team is not present, they 65 00:03:55.168 --> 00:03:58.105 receive notifications on their cell phones, which they can use 66 00:03:58.105 --> 00:04:01.108 to access some of the spacecraft information and determine how 67 00:04:01.108 --> 00:04:05.579 serious the issue is. Depending on the severity, they may have 68 00:04:05.579 --> 00:04:09.382 to come into this room to address the issue. As you look 69 00:04:09.382 --> 00:04:12.519 around the room you will see a large screen with a graphical 70 00:04:12.519 --> 00:04:15.555 display of Hubble that is driven with real-time data. It includes 71 00:04:15.555 --> 00:04:18.758 accurate star charts, the Earth’s position, the Sun’s 72 00:04:18.758 --> 00:04:21.761 location, and other environmental data to allow the 73 00:04:21.761 --> 00:04:25.832 team to see how Hubble is oriented. An operations clock in 74 00:04:25.832 --> 00:04:28.301 the corner of the room can be set to track the length of an 75 00:04:28.301 --> 00:04:32.472 event, or simply display the current time, in Universal Time 76 00:04:32.472 --> 00:04:34.875 - a standard time used in astronomy and spacecraft 77 00:04:34.875 --> 00:04:40.380 operations. A model of the main spacecraft computer sits in the 78 00:04:40.380 --> 00:04:44.317 back of the room. The actual computer on Hubble manages the 79 00:04:44.317 --> 00:04:47.287 spacecraft’s daily functions such as its power, 80 00:04:47.287 --> 00:04:50.357 communications, and pointing, and it monitors the health of 81 00:04:50.357 --> 00:04:53.693 the spacecraft. It’s also programmed to put Hubble in a 82 00:04:53.693 --> 00:04:57.030 safe state and be ready to talk to the ground if a major problem 83 00:04:57.030 --> 00:05:00.867 occurs. An engineering model of the spacecraft is also in the 84 00:05:00.867 --> 00:05:04.137 back of the room, which flight engineers can use for reference 85 00:05:04.137 --> 00:05:10.944 if they need to. You have now entered the Operations Support 86 00:05:10.944 --> 00:05:14.814 Room. This is where engineers and specialists run tests before 87 00:05:14.814 --> 00:05:18.118 sending new updates to Hubble. This ensures that these 88 00:05:18.118 --> 00:05:20.654 additions will not cause anything unexpected to happen on 89 00:05:20.654 --> 00:05:25.525 the spacecraft. Today engineers are testing potential changes to 90 00:05:25.525 --> 00:05:29.930 Hubble’s pointing control system. This room is also used 91 00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:32.199 to figure out what’s going on when the spacecraft isn’t 92 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.669 operating as expected. The behavior could be caused by a 93 00:05:35.669 --> 00:05:38.905 hardware failure, a strike from a high-energy particle, a 94 00:05:38.905 --> 00:05:43.076 fluctuation in electrical current, or something else. Once 95 00:05:43.076 --> 00:05:45.712 they know the cause, the team figures out how to get the 96 00:05:45.712 --> 00:05:49.716 spacecraft back to normal operations. As you look around 97 00:05:49.716 --> 00:05:52.953 the room, you’ll see a world map on the large middle screen at 98 00:05:52.953 --> 00:05:56.857 the front. This shows engineers whether Hubble is in sunlight or 99 00:05:56.857 --> 00:06:00.460 darkness, where it is with respect to ground stations, and 100 00:06:00.460 --> 00:06:04.431 whether it is passing through a high-radiation zone. Another 101 00:06:04.431 --> 00:06:07.901 large display on the left of the front wall shows a ground-based 102 00:06:07.901 --> 00:06:10.770 image of what astronomical object Hubble is scheduled to be 103 00:06:10.770 --> 00:06:15.275 looking at. This same display is available to anyone on NASA’s 104 00:06:15.275 --> 00:06:19.879 Hubble Space Telescope website. In the back of the room is a 105 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:23.316 model of Hubble in the space shuttle cargo bay. The model 106 00:06:23.316 --> 00:06:26.052 includes carriers that were mounted in the cargo bay to 107 00:06:26.052 --> 00:06:29.189 carry new instruments, spacecraft components, and 108 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:33.193 astronaut tools during a servicing mission. In fact, 109 00:06:33.193 --> 00:06:36.930 during these missions, this room was fully staffed 24 hours a 110 00:06:36.930 --> 00:06:40.100 day, as engineers prepared Hubble for the installation of 111 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:46.706 new hardware. You are now in the exhibit hallway outside of the 112 00:06:46.706 --> 00:06:49.676 Operations Support Room, which displays some of the hardware 113 00:06:49.676 --> 00:06:53.446 that once flew on Hubble. In the built-in display case you see a 114 00:06:53.446 --> 00:06:58.051 black electronic control box. It was used to control gyroscopes - 115 00:06:58.051 --> 00:07:00.487 the sensors that can tell how fast Hubble is turning and in 116 00:07:00.487 --> 00:07:04.591 what direction. During the first servicing mission in 1993, 117 00:07:04.591 --> 00:07:08.061 astronauts replaced this control box and learned that it had a 118 00:07:08.061 --> 00:07:12.032 bad capacitor. It was fixed so that it could potentially be 119 00:07:12.032 --> 00:07:16.836 used on Hubble again, but it was never needed. Farther over is 120 00:07:16.836 --> 00:07:19.105 one of the original tape recorders used for storing 121 00:07:19.105 --> 00:07:22.275 science and engineering data. During the second servicing 122 00:07:22.275 --> 00:07:25.945 mission in 1997, the tape recorder was replaced with a 123 00:07:25.945 --> 00:07:29.716 solid state recorder, similar to a USB memory stick, which could 124 00:07:29.716 --> 00:07:33.353 hold 10 times more information. This was important as Hubble 125 00:07:33.353 --> 00:07:35.922 would later be upgraded with better cameras that had over six 126 00:07:35.922 --> 00:07:40.827 times the resolution – requiring more storage space. On the 127 00:07:40.827 --> 00:07:44.564 opposite wall, standalone display cases contain tools 128 00:07:44.564 --> 00:07:48.134 developed to help astronauts work on Hubble. The Mini Power 129 00:07:48.134 --> 00:07:51.738 Tool is a power screwdriver with LED lights and interchangeable 130 00:07:51.738 --> 00:07:55.508 screwdriver bits. It is connected to a battery pack so 131 00:07:55.508 --> 00:07:59.679 that it is smaller and easier to handle. The tool was optimized 132 00:07:59.679 --> 00:08:03.116 so that astronauts could remove over 100 small screws during an 133 00:08:03.116 --> 00:08:07.253 instrument repair. The bits are color coded so that the 134 00:08:07.253 --> 00:08:11.558 astronauts can find the right bit faster. Their bit caddy, a 135 00:08:11.558 --> 00:08:14.627 device built to carry the bits and hold them in place, can hold 136 00:08:14.627 --> 00:08:20.133 7 bits at a time. Moving along. the standalone display case to 137 00:08:20.133 --> 00:08:24.604 the right discusses technologies developed for this remarkable 138 00:08:24.604 --> 00:08:26.606 observatory that have made their way into everyday products here 139 00:08:26.606 --> 00:08:29.242 on earth. These include digital mammography systems that use a 140 00:08:29.242 --> 00:08:32.412 Hubble camera detector that is used in the fight against breast 141 00:08:32.412 --> 00:08:35.482 cancer and a sky map computer program used by amateur 142 00:08:35.482 --> 00:08:39.619 astronomers that is based on Hubble’s star catalog. On the 143 00:08:39.619 --> 00:08:42.389 walls to the left of the standalone display cases hang 144 00:08:42.389 --> 00:08:46.092 various awards received by the operations team as well as a 145 00:08:46.092 --> 00:08:49.262 letter from the President of the United States congratulating the 146 00:08:49.262 --> 00:08:54.267 team on 25 years of Hubble operations. In another section 147 00:08:57.637 --> 00:09:00.607 of the exhibit hallway, these cases hold additional astronaut 148 00:09:00.607 --> 00:09:04.344 tools. The middle case contains tools used to repair the 149 00:09:04.344 --> 00:09:08.114 Advanced Camera for Surveys, a workhorse camera whose power 150 00:09:08.114 --> 00:09:11.951 supply failed after almost five years of service. To fix the 151 00:09:11.951 --> 00:09:15.722 instrument, astronauts had to first use this grid cutter to 152 00:09:15.722 --> 00:09:19.626 slice through a metal grid that blocked a cover. That cover had 153 00:09:19.626 --> 00:09:23.430 to be removed to get to circuit boards underneath it. The tool 154 00:09:23.430 --> 00:09:27.233 contains 12 individual cutter blades on the back that sheared 155 00:09:27.233 --> 00:09:30.170 through the metal grid when the front bolts were turned. The 156 00:09:30.170 --> 00:09:33.573 astronauts then used the Fastener Capture Plate, a tool 157 00:09:33.573 --> 00:09:36.743 that prevented 32 small screws that were holding that cover on 158 00:09:36.743 --> 00:09:40.613 the instrument from floating away when they were taken out. 159 00:09:40.613 --> 00:09:44.851 Next, astronauts used a card extractor to remove four circuit 160 00:09:44.851 --> 00:09:48.354 boards that were under that cover. One of those circuit 161 00:09:48.354 --> 00:09:52.158 boards is located in the next display case to the right. The 162 00:09:52.158 --> 00:09:55.228 overall repair was successful and the instrument has now been 163 00:09:55.228 --> 00:09:59.332 functioning longer than it did before its initial failure. The 164 00:09:59.332 --> 00:10:02.168 built-in display case on the wall has parts of the first 165 00:10:02.168 --> 00:10:05.538 spectrograph that flew on Hubble – the Goddard High Resolution 166 00:10:05.538 --> 00:10:09.876 Spectrograph. It flew in space for 7 years. It was designed to 167 00:10:09.876 --> 00:10:12.879 measure the intensity of light at different wavelengths to 168 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:16.249 reveal information about an object’s properties. The 169 00:10:16.249 --> 00:10:19.552 spectrograph used gratings, which act like prisms to break 170 00:10:19.552 --> 00:10:23.089 the light into a rainbow. Special detectors then captured 171 00:10:23.089 --> 00:10:25.859 the spectral data from the rainbow of light produced by the 172 00:10:25.859 --> 00:10:29.696 gratings. The other half of the built-in display case contains 173 00:10:29.696 --> 00:10:32.599 more awards received by the Hubble mission as well as 174 00:10:32.599 --> 00:10:35.468 various Hubble mementos, including US flags and 175 00:10:35.468 --> 00:10:40.006 spacecraft insulation that flew in space. On the far wall is a 176 00:10:40.006 --> 00:10:43.142 copy of one of the blueprints of the Hubble Space Telescope that 177 00:10:43.142 --> 00:10:47.780 was made in 1981 when Hubble was being built. We hope you have 178 00:10:47.780 --> 00:10:51.351 enjoyed this tour of the Hubble Space Telescope Control Center. 179 00:10:51.351 --> 00:10:54.854 To find out more about Hubble or its operations, explore our 180 00:10:54.854 --> 00:10:59.659 website at nasa.gov/hubble or follow us on social media 181 00:10:59.659 --> 00:00:00.000 @NASAHubble. [music fades out]