WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:00.200 2 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:26.334 -Good morning, and welcome to the launch-minus-1-day-countdown 3 00:00:26.334 --> 00:00:29.200 status briefing for mission STS-103. 4 00:00:29.200 --> 00:00:32.133 I have with us this morning as participants Doug Lyons, 5 00:00:32.133 --> 00:00:34.767 the NASA test director, Steve Ernest, 6 00:00:34.767 --> 00:00:38.334 the STS-103 payload manager and Ed Priselac, 7 00:00:38.334 --> 00:00:40.067 our shuttle weather officer, 8 00:00:40.067 --> 00:00:43.767 and we'll begin this morning's briefing with Doug Lyons. 9 00:00:43.767 --> 00:00:45.767 -Well, thank you, and good morning. 10 00:00:45.767 --> 00:00:47.934 The STS-103 countdown is currently 11 00:00:47.934 --> 00:00:49.634 in a 4-hour built-in hold, 12 00:00:49.634 --> 00:00:51.067 and we plan on resuming the countdown 13 00:00:51.067 --> 00:00:54.300 at T minus 19 hours and counting at 9:30 a.m. 14 00:00:54.300 --> 00:00:55.701 this morning, and that's Eastern Time, 15 00:00:55.701 --> 00:00:58.033 and I am pleased to report the ground 16 00:00:58.033 --> 00:01:01.167 and flight systems are all go. 17 00:01:01.167 --> 00:01:04.667 We're not tracking any problems from a technical aspect, 18 00:01:04.667 --> 00:01:06.734 and we are right on schedule. 19 00:01:08.801 --> 00:01:10.667 Over the course of the last 24 hours, 20 00:01:10.667 --> 00:01:13.267 we have completed a battery of checkouts and tests 21 00:01:13.267 --> 00:01:17.033 on our shuttle avionics and electronics systems, 22 00:01:17.033 --> 00:01:20.801 and we completed that work with no anomalies reported. 23 00:01:20.801 --> 00:01:22.701 We also powered up and tested our orbiter 24 00:01:22.701 --> 00:01:26.200 navigational landing systems and also performed preparation 25 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:30.667 as far as fuel cell loading, cryogenic loading operations. 26 00:01:30.667 --> 00:01:33.701 Yesterday evening, we did clear the pad as scheduled 27 00:01:33.701 --> 00:01:36.801 and performed our shuttle ordinance systems checkout, 28 00:01:36.801 --> 00:01:38.968 and then we did proceed into our fuel cell, 29 00:01:38.968 --> 00:01:41.334 cryogenic loading operations. 30 00:01:41.334 --> 00:01:42.934 We have completed those operations 31 00:01:42.934 --> 00:01:44.200 just a short time ago, 32 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.534 and have regained access into the launchpad. 33 00:01:47.534 --> 00:01:50.300 Looking ahead for our significant work today, 34 00:01:50.300 --> 00:01:52.968 we do plan on performing preparations 35 00:01:52.968 --> 00:01:55.534 and final checkouts on our shuttle main engines, 36 00:01:55.534 --> 00:01:57.801 and we will also power up our orbiter 37 00:01:57.801 --> 00:02:02.801 and NASA worldwide ground communications systems. 38 00:02:02.801 --> 00:02:04.467 Early Thursday morning, we'll come in 39 00:02:04.467 --> 00:02:09.834 and perform our final pad configurations for launch, 40 00:02:09.834 --> 00:02:12.234 and we do plan on rotating the rotating service structure 41 00:02:12.234 --> 00:02:16.100 to the park position at 3:45 a.m. 42 00:02:16.100 --> 00:02:19.033 And subsequent to that, we will clear the pad at 9 43 00:02:19.033 --> 00:02:22.734 a.m. on Thursday for external tank loading. 44 00:02:22.734 --> 00:02:24.234 The mission management team is scheduled 45 00:02:24.234 --> 00:02:26.434 to come in at 11:30 on Thursday. 46 00:02:26.434 --> 00:02:28.067 They'll assess any technical issues 47 00:02:28.067 --> 00:02:30.601 that have come up over the last 24 hours, 48 00:02:30.601 --> 00:02:33.267 and they'll also take a look at the weather. 49 00:02:33.267 --> 00:02:34.801 Pending a go decision from the MMT, 50 00:02:34.801 --> 00:02:37.601 we do plan on picking up our external tank 51 00:02:37.601 --> 00:02:41.133 loading operations at 12:30 p.m. 52 00:02:41.133 --> 00:02:42.567 That's Eastern on Thursday. 53 00:02:42.567 --> 00:02:44.000 That's about a 3-hour operation, 54 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.601 so wrap that up around 3:30 p.m. and be in stable replenish. 55 00:02:48.601 --> 00:02:51.234 At that point, we will send in our final inspection team 56 00:02:51.234 --> 00:02:54.467 and perform an assessment of the external tank, 57 00:02:54.467 --> 00:02:55.968 and we'll also send the close-out crew 58 00:02:55.968 --> 00:02:59.634 up to the crew module to prepare for the flight crew's arrival. 59 00:02:59.634 --> 00:03:02.434 And the flight crew is scheduled to depart 60 00:03:02.434 --> 00:03:06.467 to the pad at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. 61 00:03:06.467 --> 00:03:09.234 As you're probably aware, the launch window for Thursday 62 00:03:09.234 --> 00:03:13.000 attempt opens at 9:18 p.m. 63 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.501 Eastern and will close at 9:59:55 p.m. 64 00:03:16.501 --> 00:03:21.634 which represents a 41-minute and 55-second launch window. 65 00:03:21.634 --> 00:03:24.133 And based on a Thursday launch and a 10-day mission, 66 00:03:24.133 --> 00:03:26.634 we do plan on landing back here at KSC 67 00:03:26.634 --> 00:03:32.067 on the 26th of December at approximately 6:56 a.m. 68 00:03:32.067 --> 00:03:36.534 So in summary, we're not working any issues or concerns. 69 00:03:36.534 --> 00:03:39.100 Both flight and ground systems are go, 70 00:03:39.100 --> 00:03:41.968 and we're looking forward to a successful launch on Thursday. 71 00:03:41.968 --> 00:03:42.968 Thank you. 72 00:03:42.968 --> 00:03:44.267 -Okay, Doug, thank you very much. 73 00:03:44.267 --> 00:03:46.634 And now for an update on our payload. 74 00:03:46.634 --> 00:03:48.200 Steve? 75 00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:53.567 -Okay, the HST hardware is powered down for countdown. 76 00:03:53.567 --> 00:03:55.534 We continue to monitor the GN2 pers 77 00:03:55.534 --> 00:03:58.701 to the scientific instrument, the Fine Guidance Sensor, 78 00:03:58.701 --> 00:04:01.200 and we're not tracking any problems or issues, 79 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:04.968 and we're ready to fly. -Okay. 80 00:04:04.968 --> 00:04:06.601 Thanks, Steve, and for our weather. 81 00:04:06.601 --> 00:04:08.267 Ed? -Good morning. 82 00:04:08.267 --> 00:04:11.100 Conditions still look very good for a Thursday night launch. 83 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:13.234 We've been getting fronts through here about day 84 00:04:13.234 --> 00:04:17.000 and a half or 2 days, basically no rain, however. 85 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.300 And very quickly, if you could glance at the satellite imagery, 86 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:24.234 you'll see a low pressure up in the northern plains 87 00:04:24.234 --> 00:04:28.033 and a swath of clouds down through Louisiana, 88 00:04:28.033 --> 00:04:29.400 eastern Texas. 89 00:04:29.400 --> 00:04:31.968 That's the next boundary that will be going through here 90 00:04:31.968 --> 00:04:33.167 by tomorrow morning. 91 00:04:33.167 --> 00:04:35.100 Once that clears us, 92 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:37.767 then conditions will start clearing behind the front, 93 00:04:37.767 --> 00:04:40.133 and we should be in excellent shape 94 00:04:40.133 --> 00:04:43.701 for weather conditions on Thursday evening. 95 00:04:43.701 --> 00:04:46.334 If we can look now to the surface data, 96 00:04:46.334 --> 00:04:49.667 this surface map doesn't show up too well, 97 00:04:49.667 --> 00:04:51.133 but what you're seeing is high pressure 98 00:04:51.133 --> 00:04:52.601 just to the west of Florida, 99 00:04:52.601 --> 00:04:56.801 and the front that will be going through here tomorrow offshore 100 00:04:56.801 --> 00:04:58.934 to our east and southeast. 101 00:04:58.934 --> 00:05:01.167 Going through the tanking forecast, 102 00:05:03.400 --> 00:05:06.434 standby please, and we'll try to... 103 00:05:06.434 --> 00:05:09.767 I'm not sure as to how good the video is for you, 104 00:05:09.767 --> 00:05:12.434 but just some scattered clouds in the local area, 105 00:05:12.434 --> 00:05:17.367 good visibility, some blustery north, north northwest winds, 106 00:05:17.367 --> 00:05:21.467 but no concerns as far as any tanking constraints 107 00:05:21.467 --> 00:05:23.000 are involved. 108 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:25.801 Looking to the launch forecast, 109 00:05:25.801 --> 00:05:29.167 did another tag up this morning with the folks in Houston at SMG 110 00:05:29.167 --> 00:05:31.501 and coordinated our forecast, 111 00:05:31.501 --> 00:05:35.300 and we dropped the anticipated amount of clouds 112 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:38.801 down to about two-eighths coverage in the lower levels, 113 00:05:38.801 --> 00:05:43.033 3.000. few clouds with just a 10 percent chance 114 00:05:43.033 --> 00:05:48.100 that we might have a ceiling at or below 3,000 feet. 115 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:50.734 Otherwise, strong winds out of the north 116 00:05:50.734 --> 00:05:53.534 running about 12 to 20 knots at the pad. 117 00:05:53.534 --> 00:05:58.234 The temperature at launch time estimated about 52 Fahrenheit. 118 00:05:58.234 --> 00:06:02.634 Does give some concern to our Ice Team folks for ice 119 00:06:02.634 --> 00:06:05.801 accumulated on the external tank. 120 00:06:05.801 --> 00:06:07.968 With regard to the SRB recovery area, 121 00:06:07.968 --> 00:06:10.167 it will be a little windy out there, 122 00:06:10.167 --> 00:06:12.901 and the sea is up around, 123 00:06:12.901 --> 00:06:16.067 oh, maybe anywhere, 7 to 8 feet perhaps, 124 00:06:16.067 --> 00:06:20.267 no worse than that during the splashdown 125 00:06:20.267 --> 00:06:22.767 of the solid-rocket boosters. 126 00:06:22.767 --> 00:06:27.868 If you look now to the 24-hour delay forecast, 127 00:06:27.868 --> 00:06:30.801 and similar conditions. 128 00:06:30.801 --> 00:06:34.868 Winds perhaps a little more northeasterly, 129 00:06:34.868 --> 00:06:39.801 but only a 20 percent chance of having a low cloud ceiling 130 00:06:39.801 --> 00:06:44.167 in the local area around launch time or RTLS time. 131 00:06:44.167 --> 00:06:45.968 Conditions good, and as I mentioned, 132 00:06:45.968 --> 00:06:49.868 just a 20 percent chance of a weather no-go on Friday. 133 00:06:49.868 --> 00:06:52.300 And looking quickly into Saturday, 134 00:06:56.334 --> 00:06:58.133 basically the same thing. 135 00:06:58.133 --> 00:07:01.234 North to northeast winds 136 00:07:01.234 --> 00:07:04.300 and just a few clouds in the lower levels, 137 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:08.634 maybe a few high clouds and only a 20 percent chance 138 00:07:08.634 --> 00:07:14.534 of having a ceiling down in the lower layers of the atmosphere. 139 00:07:14.534 --> 00:07:23.267 So now into the other sites in the CONUS, first at Edwards, 140 00:07:23.267 --> 00:07:25.167 SMG just forecasting a few clouds 141 00:07:25.167 --> 00:07:27.400 at 25,000 feet, good visibility. 142 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:31.634 Winds northeast at 8 to 12 knots. and no concerns there. 143 00:07:31.634 --> 00:07:35.367 White Sands also looks good, a few clouds at 25,000 feet, 144 00:07:35.367 --> 00:07:40.801 good visibility and winds from the northwest at 7 to 12 knots. 145 00:07:40.801 --> 00:07:44.200 Looking into Friday, if we have to delay, 146 00:07:44.200 --> 00:07:47.534 Edwards still looking good, a few clouds at 25,000 feet, 147 00:07:47.534 --> 00:07:52.033 good visibility, winds westerly at 5 to 10 knots. 148 00:07:52.033 --> 00:07:55.267 At White Sands, same cloud conditions, 149 00:07:55.267 --> 00:07:59.801 good visibility, northeast winds 8 to 14 knots. 150 00:07:59.801 --> 00:08:02.567 Looking at Saturday, Edwards, still a few clouds 151 00:08:02.567 --> 00:08:08.267 at 25,000 feet, good visibility, winds 290 at eight peak 15, 152 00:08:08.267 --> 00:08:10.367 borderline for crosswinds at Edwards 153 00:08:10.367 --> 00:08:12.534 if we do go into Saturday. 154 00:08:12.534 --> 00:08:15.367 White Sands, a few clouds at 6,000 feet, 155 00:08:15.367 --> 00:08:18.734 scattered at 25,000, good visibility, 156 00:08:18.734 --> 00:08:23.033 winds 200 at 10, peak 18 knots. 157 00:08:23.033 --> 00:08:28.000 Looking to the TALs, Banjul still looking very good, 158 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.868 with just scattered clouds at 25,000 feet, 159 00:08:30.868 --> 00:08:34.300 good visibility, winds northeast at 7 knots. 160 00:08:34.300 --> 00:08:38.300 We're still looking for crosswinds at Ben Guerir, 161 00:08:38.300 --> 00:08:41.200 sky conditions scattered at 3,000, good visibility 162 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:46.834 and looks like zero six zero at 15 peak 24 knots. 163 00:08:46.834 --> 00:08:48.901 Friday evening, basically the same, 164 00:08:48.901 --> 00:08:55.000 light northeast winds at Banjul, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet. 165 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.400 Ben Guerir, scattered at 3,000, 7 miles visibility. 166 00:08:58.400 --> 00:09:01.200 winds zero five zero at 12 peak 20, 167 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.367 so still a crosswind-violation forecast 168 00:09:04.367 --> 00:09:07.467 at Ben Guerir both Thursday and Friday. 169 00:09:07.467 --> 00:09:10.601 Into Saturday, about the same conditions at Banjul, 170 00:09:10.601 --> 00:09:12.834 scattered at 25,000, good visibility, 171 00:09:12.834 --> 00:09:14.968 winds northeast at 12. 172 00:09:14.968 --> 00:09:18.100 And Ben Guerir, scattered at 3,000, good visibility, 173 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.000 wind zero five zero at 12 knots, 174 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.901 which is not a violation of crosswinds. 175 00:09:22.901 --> 00:09:23.901 And that's it, Bruce. 176 00:09:23.901 --> 00:09:25.234 -Okay. Thank you very much, Ed. 177 00:09:25.234 --> 00:09:27.067 Let's open it up for questions at this time. 178 00:09:27.067 --> 00:09:29.667 Please wait for the mic. We'll bring it to you. 179 00:09:29.667 --> 00:09:31.033 Any questions? 180 00:09:31.033 --> 00:09:32.367 Okay, Bill? 181 00:09:32.367 --> 00:09:35.334 -If nobody else wants to, I'll ask a couple. 182 00:09:35.334 --> 00:09:36.701 Ed, you said winds out of the north, 183 00:09:36.701 --> 00:09:38.367 so I'm assuming that whatever crosswind component 184 00:09:38.367 --> 00:09:40.033 for 15:33 is minimal? 185 00:09:40.033 --> 00:09:41.567 I mean, what is the expected crosswind? 186 00:09:41.567 --> 00:09:43.901 -Basically nil, yeah, because it's almost down the runway. 187 00:09:43.901 --> 00:09:45.033 Yes, sir, yep. 188 00:09:45.033 --> 00:09:46.667 -And I guess one for Doug, since we heard 189 00:09:46.667 --> 00:09:50.868 from the higher-ups yesterday about this particular flow 190 00:09:50.868 --> 00:09:54.067 and how things stand, what's your perspective on it 191 00:09:54.067 --> 00:09:55.767 because obviously those of us on the outside, 192 00:09:55.767 --> 00:09:57.400 it does seem kind of rushed to get this thing off 193 00:09:57.400 --> 00:10:00.367 before the end of the year, so as more of a working-level 194 00:10:00.367 --> 00:10:01.567 troop, what's... 195 00:10:01.567 --> 00:10:04.033 Give you a chance to hang yourself, 196 00:10:04.033 --> 00:10:05.334 but what's your thought on it? 197 00:10:05.334 --> 00:10:08.801 -Well, I appreciate the news you laid out there for me. 198 00:10:08.801 --> 00:10:11.701 No, but in all seriousness and honesty, 199 00:10:11.701 --> 00:10:14.834 I think that this whole process 200 00:10:14.834 --> 00:10:19.067 and flow has been a challenge for us, 201 00:10:19.067 --> 00:10:21.067 and I think that we've done the right things, 202 00:10:21.067 --> 00:10:24.234 and from a working level, we feel very confident 203 00:10:24.234 --> 00:10:27.100 in the decisions that management has made to go repair items 204 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:29.567 that were found that have been discrepant, 205 00:10:29.567 --> 00:10:32.701 so we feel like we've got a real good launch vehicle. 206 00:10:32.701 --> 00:10:36.534 Our training has been uncompromised throughout this, 207 00:10:36.534 --> 00:10:38.834 so we feel like the team is ready to go, 208 00:10:38.834 --> 00:10:41.334 and we're very anxious to go ahead and launch. 209 00:10:41.334 --> 00:10:42.667 It's been a long while, 210 00:10:42.667 --> 00:10:44.400 and that's what we're in the business to do, 211 00:10:44.400 --> 00:10:47.534 so we're all looking forward to Thursday 212 00:10:47.534 --> 00:10:49.133 and a successful mission. 213 00:10:49.133 --> 00:10:50.968 -And just for the record, is there any grumbling 214 00:10:50.968 --> 00:10:54.801 at all about holidays and... I guess you got a crew 215 00:10:54.801 --> 00:10:56.667 that always has to be ready to go to Edwards or whatever. 216 00:10:56.667 --> 00:10:59.934 I mean, is there any feelings about that? 217 00:10:59.934 --> 00:11:01.434 -Well, I think, you know, 218 00:11:01.434 --> 00:11:03.734 it's natural that everybody would prefer to be at home 219 00:11:03.734 --> 00:11:06.534 with family and friends over the holiday period, 220 00:11:06.534 --> 00:11:09.667 but we all recognize we've got a job to do. 221 00:11:09.667 --> 00:11:11.300 It is a job we all love, 222 00:11:11.300 --> 00:11:13.267 and that's, you know, to go fly this shuttle, 223 00:11:13.267 --> 00:11:16.701 so I think we're going to stand up and go to the plate 224 00:11:16.701 --> 00:11:18.501 and do what's asked of us, 225 00:11:18.501 --> 00:11:21.634 and I don't think the folks will have any issue with that. 226 00:11:21.634 --> 00:11:25.267 That's what we're paid to do, and we look forward to it. 227 00:11:25.267 --> 00:11:26.567 -Go ahead, Mark. 228 00:11:26.567 --> 00:11:28.334 -I'm Mark Carreau from the Houston Chronicle. 229 00:11:28.334 --> 00:11:31.167 My question has to do with the concerns, 230 00:11:31.167 --> 00:11:34.200 slight it may be, about the ice formation tomorrow, 231 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:36.567 and I wonder if you can... 232 00:11:36.567 --> 00:11:38.701 Ed, maybe you're the best one to kind of talk 233 00:11:38.701 --> 00:11:40.367 about what the weather conditions 234 00:11:40.367 --> 00:11:45.601 are that would conspire to create some on the tank, 235 00:11:45.601 --> 00:11:49.501 and, Doug, maybe you could say what the concern is 236 00:11:49.501 --> 00:11:52.200 or what you'd be looking for if it forms 237 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:53.701 and when you kind of reach a point 238 00:11:53.701 --> 00:11:57.868 where you couldn't deal with if it got... 239 00:11:57.868 --> 00:11:59.767 if there was a lot of ice. 240 00:11:59.767 --> 00:12:02.801 -I'll give you just very slight information. 241 00:12:02.801 --> 00:12:06.434 When the temps get down in the mid to lower 50s, 242 00:12:06.434 --> 00:12:08.467 the Ice Team does get concerned, 243 00:12:08.467 --> 00:12:12.200 concerned about ice accretion on the tank. 244 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:14.467 Hopefully the winds will stay up a little bit, 245 00:12:14.467 --> 00:12:16.100 and that will give us a little bit of a break. 246 00:12:16.100 --> 00:12:19.801 That will mix more of the warmer ambient air near the tank, 247 00:12:19.801 --> 00:12:21.667 but again, 248 00:12:21.667 --> 00:12:23.801 it's just something they'll have to assess in real time 249 00:12:23.801 --> 00:12:27.067 if there is some concern about ice formation on the tank, 250 00:12:27.067 --> 00:12:31.701 especially going in after sunset. 251 00:12:31.701 --> 00:12:35.300 -And I can follow up on that. 252 00:12:35.300 --> 00:12:36.667 As far as the criteria for icing 253 00:12:36.667 --> 00:12:37.968 on the tank, it's pretty complex. 254 00:12:37.968 --> 00:12:40.534 There's some areas that are no ice-formation areas, 255 00:12:40.534 --> 00:12:42.734 and some you're allowed a certain, you know, 256 00:12:42.734 --> 00:12:45.901 level of icing to occur. 257 00:12:45.901 --> 00:12:49.968 Our Final Inspection Team folks that are going to do 258 00:12:49.968 --> 00:12:51.968 the assessment have math models 259 00:12:51.968 --> 00:12:54.100 that they've been running over the last several days 260 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:57.033 based on the information Ed has been providing to us, 261 00:12:57.033 --> 00:12:58.667 and these models take into account 262 00:12:58.667 --> 00:13:02.100 all of the pertinent factors that would lead to icing. 263 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:04.200 And while we will have some low temperatures, 264 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:08.033 they're pretty confident that it shouldn't pose an issue for us 265 00:13:08.033 --> 00:13:09.434 for this launch countdown. 266 00:13:09.434 --> 00:13:13.167 And as I mentioned earlier, what we do is, as soon as we get 267 00:13:13.167 --> 00:13:15.267 the external tank loaded and we get in to replenish, 268 00:13:15.267 --> 00:13:16.501 we send the Final Inspection Team 269 00:13:16.501 --> 00:13:19.567 out to the pad to do an on-site inspection, 270 00:13:19.567 --> 00:13:21.767 and those folks will be providing information 271 00:13:21.767 --> 00:13:23.501 back to the firing room and come back 272 00:13:23.501 --> 00:13:25.634 and give us a final recommendation 273 00:13:25.634 --> 00:13:27.667 as to whether or not we commit to launch. 274 00:13:27.667 --> 00:13:32.033 But again, all that we see now with our math models 275 00:13:32.033 --> 00:13:34.868 and assessments say that we need to keep a close eye on it, 276 00:13:34.868 --> 00:13:38.734 but it shouldn't pose a problem for us. 277 00:13:38.734 --> 00:13:40.667 -And just a quick follow-up on that, 278 00:13:40.667 --> 00:13:42.133 I guess you're saying 279 00:13:42.133 --> 00:13:45.367 you kind of do expect to see some, then, tomorrow. 280 00:13:45.367 --> 00:13:47.267 It looks like the conditions will be right 281 00:13:47.267 --> 00:13:48.534 for some formation, 282 00:13:48.534 --> 00:13:50.801 it's just how much and where it is. 283 00:13:50.801 --> 00:13:53.901 It's what you'll be looking for and assessing. 284 00:13:53.901 --> 00:13:56.033 -Well, what I was referring to earlier 285 00:13:56.033 --> 00:13:57.701 is that there are criteria that allows 286 00:13:57.701 --> 00:14:00.634 for a certain amount of ice formation on the tank. 287 00:14:00.634 --> 00:14:02.300 Our models are showing that we don't really expect 288 00:14:02.300 --> 00:14:03.601 any noticeable formation. 289 00:14:03.601 --> 00:14:04.968 We're going to have some frost on the tank. 290 00:14:04.968 --> 00:14:06.834 It will appear a bit white, 291 00:14:06.834 --> 00:14:10.868 but we don't expect any significant ice buildup at all. 292 00:14:10.868 --> 00:14:14.067 -Okay, Peter? -Peter King CBS News Radio. 293 00:14:14.067 --> 00:14:15.834 Back in May when we were making our... 294 00:14:15.834 --> 00:14:17.067 When we had our first flight of the year, 295 00:14:17.067 --> 00:14:19.300 we were talking about, you know, 296 00:14:19.300 --> 00:14:24.000 what you did to keep the launch team hot and ready to go. 297 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.434 I'm just wondering what you've been doing the last 5 months 298 00:14:26.434 --> 00:14:27.834 in terms of training, 299 00:14:27.834 --> 00:14:31.133 drills, extra practice, that kind of thing? 300 00:14:31.133 --> 00:14:34.167 -Well, what we've done is, we've kept with 301 00:14:34.167 --> 00:14:35.968 the same training regime as we would have had 302 00:14:35.968 --> 00:14:38.567 if we would have been launching almost a monthly basis. 303 00:14:38.567 --> 00:14:40.968 We've been performing full integrated simulations 304 00:14:40.968 --> 00:14:44.367 with the KSC and JSC teams, 305 00:14:44.367 --> 00:14:47.434 the launch control team and the mission control team. 306 00:14:47.434 --> 00:14:48.934 There's simulate and terminal count, 307 00:14:48.934 --> 00:14:50.634 and we throw in all sorts of anomalies 308 00:14:50.634 --> 00:14:52.734 that the team has got to overcome and contend with, 309 00:14:52.734 --> 00:14:54.901 and we go all the way through T-0. 310 00:14:54.901 --> 00:14:58.534 In addition to that, with that, two management sims 311 00:14:58.534 --> 00:15:01.367 in which we've gotten mission management here at KSC, 312 00:15:01.367 --> 00:15:03.133 and we've run through the same kind of format 313 00:15:03.133 --> 00:15:07.834 where problems are introduced, and the team has to react. 314 00:15:07.834 --> 00:15:09.234 So through all that training, 315 00:15:09.234 --> 00:15:11.133 we feel like our communication is there, 316 00:15:11.133 --> 00:15:13.067 we understand the procedures 317 00:15:13.067 --> 00:15:15.434 and how will this position problems, 318 00:15:15.434 --> 00:15:17.667 and I think we're in real good shape 319 00:15:17.667 --> 00:15:21.300 to go in and successful launch on Thursday. 320 00:15:21.300 --> 00:15:23.834 -Okay, any other questions? All right. 321 00:15:23.834 --> 00:15:26.467 Not having any, just a reminder that at 10 o'clock 322 00:15:26.467 --> 00:15:28.968 this morning Eastern Time we have a Hubble Space Telescope 323 00:15:28.968 --> 00:15:31.901 science briefing, and then we will not have 324 00:15:31.901 --> 00:15:33.334 a countdown status briefing tomorrow. 325 00:15:33.334 --> 00:15:36.167 The live TV coverage of the countdown 326 00:15:36.167 --> 00:15:37.734 begins at 4 p.m. Eastern. 327 00:15:37.734 --> 00:15:39.334 Thank you very much. 328 00:18:18.434 --> 00:18:20.601 -Good morning. Welcome to today's briefing 329 00:18:20.601 --> 00:18:23.400 for the payload for the STS-103 mission. 330 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.133 Here with us on the panel today 331 00:18:25.133 --> 00:18:28.601 to discuss what's going to happen with the Hubble Telescope 332 00:18:28.601 --> 00:18:32.334 during this mission are, to my left, Dr. Anne Kinney, 333 00:18:32.334 --> 00:18:35.501 who's the director of NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins 334 00:18:35.501 --> 00:18:39.767 and Planetary Systems Program at NASA headquarters, 335 00:18:39.767 --> 00:18:42.801 and to her left, Dr. John Campbell, 336 00:18:42.801 --> 00:18:44.334 who is the Hubble program manager 337 00:18:44.334 --> 00:18:47.300 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 338 00:18:47.300 --> 00:18:49.601 We'll start off with Dr. Kinney. 339 00:18:49.601 --> 00:18:53.467 -Oh, I wanted to talk a little bit about Hubble Space Telescope 340 00:18:53.467 --> 00:18:56.968 as an operating telescope in space, 341 00:18:56.968 --> 00:19:01.367 and what it's done for space astronomy, 342 00:19:01.367 --> 00:19:04.033 and then John will talk more about 343 00:19:04.033 --> 00:19:07.067 a lot of the technicalities of this mission. 344 00:19:07.067 --> 00:19:09.300 Hubble Space Telescope was conceived 345 00:19:09.300 --> 00:19:11.734 in the '40s by Lyman Spitzer, 346 00:19:11.734 --> 00:19:14.000 and it was designed in the '70s and '80s, 347 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.434 and it was designed to be serviceable, 348 00:19:17.434 --> 00:19:22.133 and we all know after watching the horror of spherical 349 00:19:22.133 --> 00:19:25.200 aberration how important that was to the telescope. 350 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.868 The first servicing mission went up 351 00:19:26.868 --> 00:19:29.934 and fixed the spherical aberration, 352 00:19:29.934 --> 00:19:34.133 fixed it as well as the laws of physics would allow, 353 00:19:34.133 --> 00:19:37.868 and since then, we've done further servicing missions 354 00:19:37.868 --> 00:19:41.501 to update the instrumentation, and so Hubble Space Telescope, 355 00:19:41.501 --> 00:19:45.133 in spite of being designed in the '70s, 356 00:19:45.133 --> 00:19:47.868 is really a state-of-the-art instrument. 357 00:19:47.868 --> 00:19:50.567 Now, of course, today, it's sitting up there 358 00:19:50.567 --> 00:19:53.801 with itself in safe mode, 359 00:19:53.801 --> 00:19:58.901 and that, again, shows how important the serviceability 360 00:19:58.901 --> 00:20:01.767 is to this facility. 361 00:20:01.767 --> 00:20:03.334 I also wanted to mention a little bit 362 00:20:03.334 --> 00:20:06.667 of the way Hubble Space Telescope operates. 363 00:20:06.667 --> 00:20:09.667 It's a facility that is used 364 00:20:09.667 --> 00:20:14.968 by the American astronomical community. 365 00:20:14.968 --> 00:20:18.334 The astronomers compete for time on this telescope, 366 00:20:18.334 --> 00:20:20.033 and it is highly competitive. 367 00:20:20.033 --> 00:20:23.567 There were over 100 proposals submitted this year, 368 00:20:23.567 --> 00:20:25.534 just for this year's time, 369 00:20:25.534 --> 00:20:30.133 and approximately one out of five of those proposals 370 00:20:30.133 --> 00:20:34.200 was chosen because it was oversubscribed so much. 371 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:37.467 And then the way that the time is allocated 372 00:20:37.467 --> 00:20:40.367 is that a panel of astronomers, a panel of peers, 373 00:20:40.367 --> 00:20:42.634 comes together and judges. 374 00:20:42.634 --> 00:20:44.834 They use their scientific judgement 375 00:20:44.834 --> 00:20:47.701 to choose the best astronomy 376 00:20:47.701 --> 00:20:50.734 that can be gotten out of the telescope. 377 00:20:50.734 --> 00:20:53.901 So this is a very active facility 378 00:20:53.901 --> 00:20:57.634 designed to do the best possible science. 379 00:20:57.634 --> 00:20:59.901 There's also another interesting aspect of it. 380 00:20:59.901 --> 00:21:03.934 Now that we have Chandra in orbit, 381 00:21:03.934 --> 00:21:05.234 there is an exchange 382 00:21:05.234 --> 00:21:07.767 between Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra 383 00:21:07.767 --> 00:21:11.000 so that people can propose for observing time 384 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:14.133 on both facilities at the same time to look at objects 385 00:21:14.133 --> 00:21:18.367 that emit in both wavebands and are variable 386 00:21:18.367 --> 00:21:21.067 so that you can see them both at the same time. 387 00:21:21.067 --> 00:21:24.567 And again, that is designed to optimize 388 00:21:24.567 --> 00:21:29.100 the science out of these facilities. 389 00:21:29.100 --> 00:21:31.601 I think Hubble Space Telescope has set the standard 390 00:21:31.601 --> 00:21:37.767 for this type of science, space science, 391 00:21:37.767 --> 00:21:43.400 and, you know, the return has been enormous. 392 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:46.834 In a few minutes, I'll address some of the science issues. 393 00:21:46.834 --> 00:21:49.167 John. -Okay, good morning. 394 00:21:49.167 --> 00:21:51.467 I wanted to cover three different areas this morning. 395 00:21:51.467 --> 00:21:52.734 I want to tell you a little bit about 396 00:21:52.734 --> 00:21:55.167 what the status of the spacecraft is. 397 00:21:55.167 --> 00:21:57.834 I wanted to put this mission in context 398 00:21:57.834 --> 00:22:00.267 with the other missions that preceded 399 00:22:00.267 --> 00:22:03.701 and will follow this mission, and then talk fairly quickly 400 00:22:03.701 --> 00:22:05.801 about what we're going to do on this mission 401 00:22:05.801 --> 00:22:10.534 in terms of changing out boxes and making repairs. 402 00:22:10.534 --> 00:22:15.067 So since...In the last month, namely in November, 403 00:22:15.067 --> 00:22:18.901 the 13th, the fourth of six gyros that are onboard 404 00:22:18.901 --> 00:22:23.701 Hubble failed, and that left only two operational gyros, 405 00:22:23.701 --> 00:22:25.501 and that stopped the servicing mission, 406 00:22:25.501 --> 00:22:28.133 and so we have... or the science mission, 407 00:22:28.133 --> 00:22:32.868 and so in the last month, we haven't been doing science. 408 00:22:32.868 --> 00:22:34.834 The Hubble is in a... 409 00:22:34.834 --> 00:22:38.300 called a zero-gyro safe mode, uses no gyros, 410 00:22:38.300 --> 00:22:41.634 and if you pretend you're the Sun, 411 00:22:41.634 --> 00:22:43.033 then this is what you would see, 412 00:22:43.033 --> 00:22:47.767 that the Hubble is locked onto the Sun line 413 00:22:47.767 --> 00:22:50.167 and Hubble rotates around the Sun 414 00:22:50.167 --> 00:22:53.033 about one revolution per hour. 415 00:22:53.033 --> 00:22:55.868 Now this isn't... The aperture door is closed, 416 00:22:55.868 --> 00:23:00.100 and this is in a quite safe mode. 417 00:23:00.100 --> 00:23:04.501 What we will do, though, about 5 1/2 hours before grapple. 418 00:23:04.501 --> 00:23:07.667 we will go to a backup mode, 419 00:23:07.667 --> 00:23:09.467 this is called a hardware safe mode, 420 00:23:09.467 --> 00:23:15.400 and there are three gyros that are available only to it. 421 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:16.801 Those are backup gyros. 422 00:23:16.801 --> 00:23:19.267 They're appropriately called retrieval-mode gyros. 423 00:23:19.267 --> 00:23:21.634 They were designed for this specific case, 424 00:23:21.634 --> 00:23:23.334 and when we go into this mode, 425 00:23:23.334 --> 00:23:26.400 the telescope will remain pointing to the Sun 426 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:28.968 as I just showed you, and will just stop rotating. 427 00:23:28.968 --> 00:23:30.868 It will become fixed in space 428 00:23:30.868 --> 00:23:33.868 and then the orbiter will be able to come up 429 00:23:33.868 --> 00:23:37.567 and grapple essentially a fixed target. 430 00:23:37.567 --> 00:23:41.534 So the crew is all trained to do this, 431 00:23:41.534 --> 00:23:44.300 and everything should work out okay. 432 00:23:47.467 --> 00:23:51.801 Because this gyro has failed, it hasn't really changed 433 00:23:51.801 --> 00:23:53.267 anything in terms of our mission. 434 00:23:53.267 --> 00:23:57.400 We had intended to change out all six gyros that Hubble has, 435 00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:00.334 and so the mission and the plan for changing things 436 00:24:00.334 --> 00:24:04.767 just remains the same as we've originally planned. 437 00:24:04.767 --> 00:24:08.033 And I'm going to talk to you a little bit more in 438 00:24:08.033 --> 00:24:11.367 just a couple of minutes about the gyros 439 00:24:11.367 --> 00:24:14.300 and tell you a little bit more about them. 440 00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:16.501 I can tell you, though, that the Hubble team is anxious 441 00:24:16.501 --> 00:24:20.667 to have the servicing done, the gyros replaced, 442 00:24:20.667 --> 00:24:22.934 and we can get back doing science 443 00:24:22.934 --> 00:24:24.567 that Anne has talked about. 444 00:24:24.567 --> 00:24:28.000 May I have the next chart, first graphic? 445 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.667 To place this in context, 446 00:24:31.667 --> 00:24:36.000 Servicing Mission 3A is of course now in 1999. 447 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.601 The Hubble mission is a 20-year mission 448 00:24:38.601 --> 00:24:39.801 started in 1990, 449 00:24:39.801 --> 00:24:43.467 it was launched, and it will go through 2010. 450 00:24:43.467 --> 00:24:46.234 There were two servicing missions before this one, 451 00:24:46.234 --> 00:24:50.601 Servicing Mission 1 in '93, Servicing Mission 2 in '97. 452 00:24:50.601 --> 00:24:52.000 Then we have two more, 453 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.767 Servicing Mission 3B in the summer of 2001, 454 00:24:55.767 --> 00:25:00.367 and Servicing Mission 4 in the summer of 2003. 455 00:25:00.367 --> 00:25:03.267 After that, we go on to extended science mission 456 00:25:03.267 --> 00:25:08.400 without further servicing until 2010 when the mission ceases. 457 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.000 Now just a couple of things that we're looking forward to 458 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.767 for the next servicing missions, in Servicing Mission 3B, 459 00:25:15.767 --> 00:25:17.467 the next one after this, 460 00:25:17.467 --> 00:25:20.868 we plan to replace one of the instruments 461 00:25:20.868 --> 00:25:23.100 with Advanced Camera for Surveys. 462 00:25:23.100 --> 00:25:26.968 This camera will have an increase of sensitivity 463 00:25:26.968 --> 00:25:29.334 over the current camera by a factor of 10, 464 00:25:29.334 --> 00:25:32.801 so it should open new science areas. 465 00:25:32.801 --> 00:25:36.901 In another science area, the near-infrared camera 466 00:25:36.901 --> 00:25:38.868 that was installed in Servicing Mission 2 467 00:25:38.868 --> 00:25:42.400 has now exhausted its cryogen, its solid nitrogen 468 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:46.100 that's required to cool the detectors, and it's dormant. 469 00:25:46.100 --> 00:25:48.100 We plan to install a refrigerator 470 00:25:48.100 --> 00:25:50.067 in the next coming servicing mission 471 00:25:50.067 --> 00:25:53.601 and rejuvenate the near-infrared camera. 472 00:25:53.601 --> 00:25:55.267 Another thing that is important to us 473 00:25:55.267 --> 00:25:58.267 is that we'll be replacing the solar arrays 474 00:25:58.267 --> 00:26:00.968 with a rigid set of solar arrays, 475 00:26:00.968 --> 00:26:03.968 and these solar arrays, then, are designed to last 476 00:26:03.968 --> 00:26:07.100 for the remainder of the mission into 2010. 477 00:26:07.100 --> 00:26:10.167 In Servicing Mission 4, there are two new instruments 478 00:26:10.167 --> 00:26:12.767 going in, Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. 479 00:26:12.767 --> 00:26:15.334 This is a spectrograph which is optimized for near 480 00:26:15.334 --> 00:26:17.601 and mid-ultraviolet light 481 00:26:17.601 --> 00:26:19.434 And Wild Field Camera 3, 482 00:26:19.434 --> 00:26:22.667 which will replace Wide Field Camera 2, 483 00:26:22.667 --> 00:26:24.667 that is the camera that has that notch in it, 484 00:26:24.667 --> 00:26:27.701 and I assure you this new one won't have that notch in it, 485 00:26:27.701 --> 00:26:30.667 and so it'll have a nice square picture to it. 486 00:26:30.667 --> 00:26:34.200 And in addition, though, it will have infrared capability 487 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:37.501 which will really replace the near-infrared camera 488 00:26:37.501 --> 00:26:39.133 from Servicing Mission 2, 489 00:26:39.133 --> 00:26:41.501 and then that camera will become a backup 490 00:26:41.501 --> 00:26:45.167 for Wide Field Camera 3. 491 00:26:45.167 --> 00:26:46.868 So that's where we're going, 492 00:26:46.868 --> 00:26:49.767 and now let's focus on this mission, 493 00:26:49.767 --> 00:26:52.968 and I'd like to have the next chart. 494 00:26:52.968 --> 00:26:58.501 This is a bird's-eye view of Hubble docked to the orbiter. 495 00:26:58.501 --> 00:27:01.067 It's docked on a lazy Susan device there. 496 00:27:01.067 --> 00:27:05.767 It's a ring that allows the spacecraft to be rotated 497 00:27:05.767 --> 00:27:09.501 or tilted so that the astronauts can get access 498 00:27:09.501 --> 00:27:14.567 to the doors that are around Hubble in an easy way. 499 00:27:14.567 --> 00:27:19.033 This lazy Susan device also has an automatic umbilical cord 500 00:27:19.033 --> 00:27:22.701 which will plug into Hubble, and Hubble will be powered 501 00:27:22.701 --> 00:27:27.434 by the orbiter as long as Hubble is docked there. 502 00:27:27.434 --> 00:27:30.334 In front of where that lazy Susan device is, 503 00:27:30.334 --> 00:27:34.234 is another carrier, we call it, and that holds... 504 00:27:34.234 --> 00:27:36.634 There are containers on that carrier 505 00:27:36.634 --> 00:27:38.334 that hold the black boxes. 506 00:27:38.334 --> 00:27:42.501 And these containers have foam, and they have heaters on them 507 00:27:42.501 --> 00:27:44.501 so that the black boxes get a very nice, 508 00:27:44.501 --> 00:27:48.000 warm ride as they come up into space. 509 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.667 Now moving on, the gyros, 510 00:27:53.667 --> 00:27:56.734 of course, are required for the science mission. 511 00:27:56.734 --> 00:27:59.734 They're required for the extremely accurate pointing. 512 00:27:59.734 --> 00:28:03.367 These gyros that the Hubble uses are the most accurate gyros 513 00:28:03.367 --> 00:28:05.501 ever produced, and I want to show... 514 00:28:05.501 --> 00:28:07.968 We're showing you an animation now that we're flying 515 00:28:07.968 --> 00:28:11.167 into the aft part of Hubble where the three packages 516 00:28:11.167 --> 00:28:15.133 containing two gyros each are located, 517 00:28:15.133 --> 00:28:18.601 and you can see two gyros there in the one package. 518 00:28:18.601 --> 00:28:21.267 And what's shown here is a blue fluid 519 00:28:21.267 --> 00:28:26.901 that the rotor of the gyro is encased in, 520 00:28:26.901 --> 00:28:31.701 and we've honed in onto a wire there that is broken, 521 00:28:31.701 --> 00:28:34.467 and we think that is the reason why the gyros 522 00:28:34.467 --> 00:28:38.634 that have failed to date have failed. 523 00:28:38.634 --> 00:28:41.701 Just to give you a scale, I'm holding up in front of me 524 00:28:41.701 --> 00:28:46.100 now a actual gyro so you can see what size that is. 525 00:28:46.100 --> 00:28:49.968 And these wires are on the inside of this gyro, 526 00:28:49.968 --> 00:28:51.400 and I won't even try to show them to you 527 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:53.634 because they're smaller than a human hair, 528 00:28:53.634 --> 00:28:56.400 and we already know that you can't see them 529 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.567 from a camera out there. 530 00:28:59.567 --> 00:29:02.100 The gyros that we're installing now, 531 00:29:02.100 --> 00:29:06.834 as I say, there's six, and five of those six gyros 532 00:29:06.834 --> 00:29:09.367 have been manufactured with a new technique 533 00:29:09.367 --> 00:29:13.734 we think that will keep those wires from breaking. 534 00:29:13.734 --> 00:29:17.067 The sixth gyro has been manufactured before, 535 00:29:17.067 --> 00:29:19.534 and we just ran out of time manufacturing these gyros. 536 00:29:19.534 --> 00:29:24.300 We were only able to manufacture five with the new technique. 537 00:29:24.300 --> 00:29:26.701 Now, we do plan to change all six gyros again 538 00:29:26.701 --> 00:29:29.501 in Servicing Mission 4, and those six gyros will, 539 00:29:29.501 --> 00:29:33.033 in fact, be manufactured with the new technique. 540 00:29:33.033 --> 00:29:34.601 An improvement we're making, 541 00:29:34.601 --> 00:29:38.267 if I could see the next graphic, is an advanced computer. 542 00:29:38.267 --> 00:29:41.434 This is an Intel 486 computer unit. 543 00:29:41.434 --> 00:29:44.000 In that box are three separate computers 544 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.834 so that we have triple redundancy. 545 00:29:45.834 --> 00:29:47.067 We only use one at a time. 546 00:29:47.067 --> 00:29:48.934 If one should fail, then we can use 547 00:29:48.934 --> 00:29:51.200 one of the others that are backup. 548 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.434 And the computer that was launched 549 00:29:53.434 --> 00:29:55.834 is a very old-style computer 550 00:29:55.834 --> 00:29:59.834 that was built in the early '80s or late 551 00:29:59.834 --> 00:30:02.200 '70s, and the computer we're installing now 552 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:05.267 will have 30 times the memory of that original computer 553 00:30:05.267 --> 00:30:08.400 and 40 times its processing power. 554 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:11.968 This will result in lower operations costs, 555 00:30:11.968 --> 00:30:15.534 software maintenance costs and the ability to do work-arounds 556 00:30:15.534 --> 00:30:18.300 or improvements to get more out of Hubble 557 00:30:18.300 --> 00:30:21.234 in terms of being able to do better science. 558 00:30:23.300 --> 00:30:26.734 If I could have the next chart. 559 00:30:26.734 --> 00:30:30.767 This is an example of how the boxes are stored 560 00:30:30.767 --> 00:30:33.501 and where they go on Hubble. 561 00:30:33.501 --> 00:30:36.033 The boxes are stored in the containers. 562 00:30:36.033 --> 00:30:38.634 The crew takes the box out of the container, 563 00:30:38.634 --> 00:30:43.200 typically opens a door that is on the circumference of Hubble, 564 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:45.667 installs the box 565 00:30:45.667 --> 00:30:48.334 and then returns the old box back into the container 566 00:30:48.334 --> 00:30:50.634 that the new one came in, and so these... 567 00:30:50.634 --> 00:30:53.067 The new boxes are the same size, 568 00:30:53.067 --> 00:30:56.434 and they're easily replaced one for one. 569 00:30:56.434 --> 00:30:59.501 Next chart, please, 570 00:30:59.501 --> 00:31:01.367 another thing that we're doing this mission 571 00:31:01.367 --> 00:31:04.534 is changing out one of the three fine guidance sensors. 572 00:31:04.534 --> 00:31:07.334 The fine guidance sensors are used to lock 573 00:31:07.334 --> 00:31:08.601 onto the target stars 574 00:31:08.601 --> 00:31:10.834 that make Hubble very, very stable 575 00:31:10.834 --> 00:31:14.734 while we're observing stars or galaxies. 576 00:31:14.734 --> 00:31:18.300 The one you see here was removed from... 577 00:31:18.300 --> 00:31:20.100 during Servicing Mission 2, 578 00:31:20.100 --> 00:31:23.634 and we installed a spare at that time. 579 00:31:23.634 --> 00:31:26.033 That box that was brought back, the fine guidance sensor, 580 00:31:26.033 --> 00:31:29.000 has been refurbished, and we're reinstalling it. 581 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:31.133 This mission, the one we're taking out, 582 00:31:31.133 --> 00:31:33.400 we're going to refurbish that and reinstall it 583 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:34.868 in Servicing Mission 4, 584 00:31:34.868 --> 00:31:38.767 so we will have refurbished all three fine guidance sensors 585 00:31:38.767 --> 00:31:41.000 by the end of the servicing missions 586 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.968 after Servicing Mission 4. 587 00:31:43.968 --> 00:31:45.534 Just to give you an idea of scale there 588 00:31:45.534 --> 00:31:49.167 that the fine guidance sensor weighs around 500 pounds, 589 00:31:49.167 --> 00:31:52.000 and it's 5 1/2 feet tall. 590 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.801 Next graphic, please, now, Hubble, 591 00:31:55.801 --> 00:31:57.334 when it gets science data, 592 00:31:57.334 --> 00:32:00.534 stores it onboard in terms of ones and zeros, 593 00:32:00.534 --> 00:32:02.901 and then when it can get communications context 594 00:32:02.901 --> 00:32:07.067 with NASA's tracking and data relay satellite systems, 595 00:32:07.067 --> 00:32:09.567 it transmits them to the ground. 596 00:32:09.567 --> 00:32:14.667 Now, one of the two transmitters that are on Hubble have failed. 597 00:32:14.667 --> 00:32:16.267 They're redundant transmitters, 598 00:32:16.267 --> 00:32:20.634 and so the science mission hasn't been impacted at all, 599 00:32:20.634 --> 00:32:24.868 but we plan to change out that transmitter during this mission. 600 00:32:24.868 --> 00:32:31.067 Next graphic, science production is our most important product, 601 00:32:31.067 --> 00:32:34.000 and over the years, we have increased this production 602 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.067 by a factor of 11, 603 00:32:36.067 --> 00:32:38.400 and as I said, the science data is stored onboard 604 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.200 before it's transmitted to the ground, 605 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:44.000 and we put that data on recorders. 606 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:48.400 Hubble was launched with three mechanical recorders, 607 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:49.901 reel to reel. 608 00:32:49.901 --> 00:32:52.167 Some of you may remember what the reel-to-reel 609 00:32:52.167 --> 00:32:53.634 tape recorders look like. 610 00:32:53.634 --> 00:32:55.100 They look much like that. 611 00:32:55.100 --> 00:32:56.901 They're not particularly reliable, 612 00:32:56.901 --> 00:32:58.601 and they don't store a lot, 613 00:32:58.601 --> 00:33:00.634 so we've already replaced one of those 614 00:33:00.634 --> 00:33:03.934 with a solid state recorder made out of computer chips 615 00:33:03.934 --> 00:33:07.801 and that can store a factor of 10 more science data 616 00:33:07.801 --> 00:33:09.133 than the original ones, 617 00:33:09.133 --> 00:33:11.334 and we're going to put up another one 618 00:33:11.334 --> 00:33:14.434 to replace the second mechanical tape recorder 619 00:33:14.434 --> 00:33:16.000 so that we can process 620 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:17.901 and handle this amount of science data, 621 00:33:17.901 --> 00:33:20.801 and as we install the new science instruments 622 00:33:20.801 --> 00:33:22.267 in the next couple servicing missions, 623 00:33:22.267 --> 00:33:24.868 we expect to increase the amount of science data 624 00:33:24.868 --> 00:33:28.234 ultimately by a factor of four, so we'll be even four times more 625 00:33:28.234 --> 00:33:31.767 than what you see on that video or that chart. 626 00:33:31.767 --> 00:33:36.701 Another thing that we're doing is installing an improved way 627 00:33:36.701 --> 00:33:40.767 to charge Hubble's six batteries that are used to power 628 00:33:40.767 --> 00:33:43.133 Hubble when Hubble goes into the nighttime. 629 00:33:43.133 --> 00:33:45.067 These are called the battery voltage 630 00:33:45.067 --> 00:33:46.767 temperature improvement kits. 631 00:33:46.767 --> 00:33:49.167 There are six of them, and they just get installed 632 00:33:49.167 --> 00:33:53.100 in-line with Hubble's six batteries. 633 00:33:53.100 --> 00:33:59.067 Now, when Hubble goes through its day-night cycle, 634 00:33:59.067 --> 00:34:02.434 it has wide temperature excursions, 635 00:34:02.434 --> 00:34:06.367 and it gets as cold as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit 636 00:34:06.367 --> 00:34:10.734 at night and 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, 637 00:34:10.734 --> 00:34:13.167 and coupled with the radiation environment 638 00:34:13.167 --> 00:34:16.934 and strong ultraviolet light, 639 00:34:16.934 --> 00:34:19.501 there needs to be a skin on Hubble 640 00:34:19.501 --> 00:34:22.934 to protect it from these thermal excursions 641 00:34:22.934 --> 00:34:26.100 and from the radiation. 642 00:34:26.100 --> 00:34:30.000 Now, the original skin that was put on has degraded over time, 643 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:33.300 and we intend to change this skin, 644 00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:36.367 and now if you'll roll the clip, 645 00:34:36.367 --> 00:34:39.133 I'll explain to you what we're going to do. 646 00:34:42.167 --> 00:34:45.968 First, we're going to install stainless steel plates 647 00:34:45.968 --> 00:34:50.968 over doors that are on the circumference of the Hubble, 648 00:34:50.968 --> 00:34:54.434 and then we'll cover over the insulation 649 00:34:54.434 --> 00:34:59.100 on the sun side of Hubble using wallpaper-like rolls. 650 00:34:59.100 --> 00:35:00.901 There are seven of them, 651 00:35:00.901 --> 00:35:04.767 and the largest roll is 18 feet by 5 feet. 652 00:35:04.767 --> 00:35:08.133 Now, here is a quick look at astronauts 653 00:35:08.133 --> 00:35:12.567 in short sleeves who are testing these... 654 00:35:12.567 --> 00:35:15.534 The installation of these wallpaper rolls, 655 00:35:15.534 --> 00:35:17.334 and you may have noticed that there's all kinds of writing 656 00:35:17.334 --> 00:35:19.133 on there. 657 00:35:19.133 --> 00:35:20.634 Those are installation instructions, 658 00:35:20.634 --> 00:35:22.467 and they will stay there, 659 00:35:22.467 --> 00:35:25.167 and it won't be a clean spacecraft when we get done. 660 00:35:25.167 --> 00:35:27.567 It'll have letter writing all over the place 661 00:35:27.567 --> 00:35:29.534 in terms of the installation of this 662 00:35:29.534 --> 00:35:32.868 to be sure that it was done properly. 663 00:35:32.868 --> 00:35:36.267 I'd like to point out that today in the audience with us 664 00:35:36.267 --> 00:35:41.801 is Jackie Townsend who's a materials engineer from Goddard. 665 00:35:41.801 --> 00:35:44.033 She's been on the Hubble team for a long time, 666 00:35:44.033 --> 00:35:47.100 and I know there's a lot of interest in this insulation, 667 00:35:47.100 --> 00:35:49.601 and she's available for questions later 668 00:35:49.601 --> 00:35:52.567 as we get into the question period, 669 00:35:52.567 --> 00:35:55.467 so, Anne, that's all I wanted to talk about, 670 00:35:55.467 --> 00:35:57.400 so maybe you'd like to continue with the science. 671 00:35:57.400 --> 00:35:58.767 -Mm-hmm. 672 00:35:58.767 --> 00:36:00.667 Well, let me talk a little bit more about the science, 673 00:36:00.667 --> 00:36:02.934 but let me start by correcting... 674 00:36:02.934 --> 00:36:04.133 I misspoke earlier. 675 00:36:04.133 --> 00:36:06.100 The number of proposals submitted this year 676 00:36:06.100 --> 00:36:10.367 was close to 1,000, not 100, 677 00:36:10.367 --> 00:36:12.901 so, you know, there's a great deal 678 00:36:12.901 --> 00:36:16.734 of scientific interest in this program. 679 00:36:16.734 --> 00:36:21.534 It has been almost 10 years since Hubble launched, 680 00:36:21.534 --> 00:36:25.400 and so I'd like to talk a little bit about 681 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:29.501 just a few science fields and where they were 10 years ago 682 00:36:29.501 --> 00:36:32.534 and where they are today. 683 00:36:32.534 --> 00:36:34.000 Of course, in 10 years' time, 684 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:36.567 there's been a lot of advance made on the ground, also, 685 00:36:36.567 --> 00:36:39.968 and the big eyes have opened up. 686 00:36:39.968 --> 00:36:43.467 Some 8-meter and 10-meter facilities have opened up, 687 00:36:43.467 --> 00:36:47.767 but they are very synergistic with the Hubble Space Telescope 688 00:36:47.767 --> 00:36:50.167 because it is extremely difficult 689 00:36:50.167 --> 00:36:52.367 to get over the fact that on the ground, 690 00:36:52.367 --> 00:36:54.100 you have to look through the atmosphere, 691 00:36:54.100 --> 00:36:55.501 and the atmosphere blurs. 692 00:36:55.501 --> 00:36:57.300 It's very much like looking at the sky 693 00:36:57.300 --> 00:36:59.601 through the bottom of a swimming pool. 694 00:36:59.601 --> 00:37:02.934 The changes in density in the atmosphere 695 00:37:02.934 --> 00:37:04.334 cause the images to blur, 696 00:37:04.334 --> 00:37:06.434 and it's very difficult to get over that, 697 00:37:06.434 --> 00:37:11.200 so Hubble Space Telescope gets extremely clear images. 698 00:37:11.200 --> 00:37:13.467 Even though it is a smaller telescope 699 00:37:13.467 --> 00:37:17.501 than the ground-based ones, it still has an enormous impact, 700 00:37:17.501 --> 00:37:20.234 and in fact, there's a lot of work done in collaboration 701 00:37:20.234 --> 00:37:22.300 between the big telescopes on ground 702 00:37:22.300 --> 00:37:26.267 and Hubble Space Telescope in space, 703 00:37:26.267 --> 00:37:29.067 but let me just choose a few topics 704 00:37:29.067 --> 00:37:30.601 and talk about the science of them, 705 00:37:30.601 --> 00:37:32.267 and this is by no means complete, 706 00:37:32.267 --> 00:37:34.968 and these are sort of my personal favorites, 707 00:37:34.968 --> 00:37:40.100 so they don't cover the whole range of topics, 708 00:37:40.100 --> 00:37:41.868 and one of the things indeed that's unusual 709 00:37:41.868 --> 00:37:43.267 about the Hubble Space Telescope 710 00:37:43.267 --> 00:37:46.033 is that there are so many different scientific topics 711 00:37:46.033 --> 00:37:48.801 that it has been able to make contributions to. 712 00:37:48.801 --> 00:37:51.634 It's not a one-question telescope. 713 00:37:51.634 --> 00:37:56.801 It's a very broad... It has very broad applicability. 714 00:37:56.801 --> 00:38:00.367 The first topic is to me 715 00:38:00.367 --> 00:38:02.067 is perhaps the easiest to talk about. 716 00:38:02.067 --> 00:38:06.267 It's galaxies, and if you look at where galaxy research 717 00:38:06.267 --> 00:38:09.701 was 10 years ago before Hubble launched, 718 00:38:09.701 --> 00:38:13.100 people worked very, very hard to get images of galaxies 719 00:38:13.100 --> 00:38:16.534 that went as far back as 20 percent of the way 720 00:38:16.534 --> 00:38:18.334 back to the beginning of time. 721 00:38:18.334 --> 00:38:21.667 That was a real victory when the ground-based telescopes 722 00:38:21.667 --> 00:38:24.000 could get back to 20 percent, 723 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:28.801 and they started to get the first intimations 724 00:38:28.801 --> 00:38:31.467 of how galaxies evolved, 725 00:38:31.467 --> 00:38:34.067 and that was the beginning of a new topic 726 00:38:34.067 --> 00:38:36.567 is actually the life of galaxies. 727 00:38:36.567 --> 00:38:40.701 That's a much bigger topic than... 728 00:38:40.701 --> 00:38:44.133 Well, bigger is the wrong word in astronomy. 729 00:38:44.133 --> 00:38:46.133 It's an older topic, perhaps, 730 00:38:46.133 --> 00:38:48.100 than people have taken on before, 731 00:38:48.100 --> 00:38:51.667 and with Hubble, you started to be able to make images 732 00:38:51.667 --> 00:38:55.033 that were very deep such as the Hubble Deep Field 733 00:38:55.033 --> 00:39:01.434 where you actually sat on one patch of sky for 10 days. 734 00:39:01.434 --> 00:39:02.934 I call it Zen astronomy 735 00:39:02.934 --> 00:39:05.734 because the way they chose the field with Hubble is, 736 00:39:05.734 --> 00:39:09.167 they searched for an area that had nothing in it. 737 00:39:09.167 --> 00:39:10.667 They really worked very hard 738 00:39:10.667 --> 00:39:12.634 to find an area that had nothing in it 739 00:39:12.634 --> 00:39:15.100 because they wanted to see as far back as possible, 740 00:39:15.100 --> 00:39:17.801 so they wanted no nearby galaxies, 741 00:39:17.801 --> 00:39:22.234 nothing local in our home galaxy to obscure this field of view, 742 00:39:22.234 --> 00:39:25.234 and one of the most difficult parts of planning 743 00:39:25.234 --> 00:39:28.300 the Hubble Deep Field was to look for a patch of sky 744 00:39:28.300 --> 00:39:30.934 that really had nothing in it, 745 00:39:30.934 --> 00:39:34.634 and then they did this... It's like drilling a core. 746 00:39:34.634 --> 00:39:39.300 They took a very deep image and were able to see galaxies 747 00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:42.868 as far back as 60 percent of the way back 748 00:39:42.868 --> 00:39:48.067 to the beginning of the universe and saw a very different picture 749 00:39:48.067 --> 00:39:51.501 than what people expected to see. 750 00:39:51.501 --> 00:39:56.868 What they saw was that they saw galaxies that were already old. 751 00:39:56.868 --> 00:40:01.467 At that very early time, these galaxies were already old, 752 00:40:01.467 --> 00:40:08.300 and so they could conclude that galaxies formed even earlier, 753 00:40:08.300 --> 00:40:12.934 and this leads to what will be some of the future astronomy 754 00:40:12.934 --> 00:40:17.434 that is done on this telescope and also on other telescopes 755 00:40:17.434 --> 00:40:20.968 like the next generation space telescope. 756 00:40:20.968 --> 00:40:23.901 When the advanced camera goes on, 757 00:40:23.901 --> 00:40:26.634 you will have a camera that will be able to take deeper images 758 00:40:26.634 --> 00:40:29.834 with a larger field of view than the WFPC, 759 00:40:29.834 --> 00:40:32.534 and that's one of the areas that we really expect 760 00:40:32.534 --> 00:40:34.801 to make progress on in Hubble Space Telescope 761 00:40:34.801 --> 00:40:37.267 in the future is to understand... 762 00:40:37.267 --> 00:40:39.100 We now understand that galaxies formed 763 00:40:39.100 --> 00:40:41.334 even earlier than we thought they could, 764 00:40:41.334 --> 00:40:43.968 and we want to keep pushing that envelope 765 00:40:43.968 --> 00:40:48.734 and understand how they first began, 766 00:40:48.734 --> 00:40:52.834 so that's one certainly a favorite topic of mine 767 00:40:52.834 --> 00:40:55.601 that Hubble has made wonderful advances in, 768 00:40:55.601 --> 00:40:59.167 and it's also an example of the strong collaboration 769 00:40:59.167 --> 00:41:01.968 between Hubble and some of the ground-based telescopes 770 00:41:01.968 --> 00:41:04.634 because Hubble discovers these objects 771 00:41:04.634 --> 00:41:07.734 because it has such a clear view. 772 00:41:07.734 --> 00:41:10.868 The images are... Have such clarity to them, 773 00:41:10.868 --> 00:41:14.667 and then the telescopes like Keck will go 774 00:41:14.667 --> 00:41:18.067 and take a spectrum of it and get the exact red shift 775 00:41:18.067 --> 00:41:20.467 and make some conclusions about the composition 776 00:41:20.467 --> 00:41:22.000 of these galaxies, 777 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:26.834 so there's a wonderful synergy between the sets of telescopes. 778 00:41:26.834 --> 00:41:29.400 Another favorite topic, and, you know, 779 00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:32.367 these really are some of my personal favorites 780 00:41:32.367 --> 00:41:34.367 is black holes. 781 00:41:34.367 --> 00:41:36.167 Ten years ago when Hubble launched, 782 00:41:36.167 --> 00:41:40.434 there was not one confirmed black hole. 783 00:41:40.434 --> 00:41:42.267 People loved black holes. 784 00:41:42.267 --> 00:41:43.501 It was such a great idea. 785 00:41:43.501 --> 00:41:45.267 It had to be true, 786 00:41:45.267 --> 00:41:47.567 but obviously, they're hard to detect! 787 00:41:47.567 --> 00:41:48.467 They don't emit. 788 00:41:48.467 --> 00:41:51.701 They swallow everything up, 789 00:41:51.701 --> 00:41:53.534 and so how do you detect something that is, 790 00:41:53.534 --> 00:41:55.934 you know, by definition invisible? 791 00:41:55.934 --> 00:41:58.000 And of course, the way you do that 792 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:01.200 is you look for the things that revolve around it 793 00:42:01.200 --> 00:42:04.834 because a black hole is very dense, 794 00:42:04.834 --> 00:42:06.701 and anything that revolves around it 795 00:42:06.701 --> 00:42:09.634 is going to go very fast, 796 00:42:09.634 --> 00:42:13.400 and so the first detection was M87. 797 00:42:13.400 --> 00:42:15.033 With the Faint Object Spectrograph, 798 00:42:15.033 --> 00:42:20.167 they were able to put the aperture 799 00:42:20.167 --> 00:42:22.934 very close to the center of this galaxy, 800 00:42:22.934 --> 00:42:25.000 and what they saw was material moving 801 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.467 in an extremely high velocity, 802 00:42:27.467 --> 00:42:30.000 and the bottom line was that if it wasn't a black hole, 803 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.667 it had to be something even stranger, 804 00:42:32.667 --> 00:42:34.434 something that we didn't even... 805 00:42:34.434 --> 00:42:36.267 You know, we'd have to invent it, 806 00:42:36.267 --> 00:42:40.734 so that was the first proof, you know, really hard evidence 807 00:42:40.734 --> 00:42:42.434 for a black hole, and since then, 808 00:42:42.434 --> 00:42:46.567 Hubble has been detecting many black holes to the point 809 00:42:46.567 --> 00:42:51.634 where there was a column by Art Buchwald a year or so ago 810 00:42:51.634 --> 00:42:54.100 where he listed all the articles that he didn't want to read 811 00:42:54.100 --> 00:42:56.400 one more time in the newspaper, and one of them was, 812 00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:59.334 "Hubble Space Telescope finds another black hole," 813 00:42:59.334 --> 00:43:03.234 so, you know, it has been very successful 814 00:43:03.234 --> 00:43:04.567 at finding black holes, 815 00:43:04.567 --> 00:43:08.834 and it finds them in the centers of many galaxies, 816 00:43:08.834 --> 00:43:10.434 and so one of the things, again, 817 00:43:10.434 --> 00:43:13.801 that we'll be able to do in the future 818 00:43:13.801 --> 00:43:17.367 is demographics of black holes. 819 00:43:17.367 --> 00:43:20.400 We'll have yet better spectrographs. 820 00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:22.067 They'll be able to go deeper 821 00:43:22.067 --> 00:43:24.567 and look at the full range of galaxies. 822 00:43:24.567 --> 00:43:27.467 Is there a black hole as the seed 823 00:43:27.467 --> 00:43:29.267 in the center of every single galaxy? 824 00:43:29.267 --> 00:43:32.267 We don't know the answer to that question, 825 00:43:32.267 --> 00:43:36.501 so that's an area where I expect that poor Art Buchwald, 826 00:43:36.501 --> 00:43:38.601 he's going to have to read a few more articles 827 00:43:38.601 --> 00:43:44.200 on discoveries of black holes, and then the final topic 828 00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:46.100 and the one that is probably near and dear 829 00:43:46.100 --> 00:43:49.067 to all our hearts is the solar system, 830 00:43:49.067 --> 00:43:53.501 and this is an area where, you know, 831 00:43:53.501 --> 00:43:57.367 when Galileo first pointed his telescope, 832 00:43:57.367 --> 00:44:00.834 his little spyglass to Jupiter, 833 00:44:00.834 --> 00:44:05.100 and he saw that there was actual motion around Jupiter, 834 00:44:05.100 --> 00:44:07.067 that, you know, that was so astounding 835 00:44:07.067 --> 00:44:09.667 that he was basically threatened with death, 836 00:44:09.667 --> 00:44:13.334 with, you know, capital punishment for so much change 837 00:44:13.334 --> 00:44:17.267 in people's point of view about the universe, 838 00:44:17.267 --> 00:44:21.300 and he did that by seeing that things move in the sky, 839 00:44:21.300 --> 00:44:23.767 and that was not our idea. 840 00:44:23.767 --> 00:44:29.801 We thought the sky, you know, the heavens were unchangeable, 841 00:44:29.801 --> 00:44:33.300 and in fact, every time you look at something more closely, 842 00:44:33.300 --> 00:44:37.968 you find that it changes, and Hubble has been able to... 843 00:44:37.968 --> 00:44:40.601 What it has been able to do that you couldn't do before 844 00:44:40.601 --> 00:44:45.367 is have a longtime presence looking at planets 845 00:44:45.367 --> 00:44:47.334 and watching them over and over. 846 00:44:47.334 --> 00:44:50.968 Now, Hubble does not see the planets as close up 847 00:44:50.968 --> 00:44:52.834 as many of the planetary missions do 848 00:44:52.834 --> 00:44:55.234 because we don't do flybys. 849 00:44:55.234 --> 00:44:56.767 We just go around and around the Earth, 850 00:44:56.767 --> 00:44:58.267 you know, and look off, 851 00:44:58.267 --> 00:45:01.167 but we have the time constancy to be able 852 00:45:01.167 --> 00:45:04.834 to look at these things over and over, and of course, 853 00:45:04.834 --> 00:45:09.334 what you see then is that the planets really change, 854 00:45:09.334 --> 00:45:12.300 and even though the planets are very different than Earth, 855 00:45:12.300 --> 00:45:14.901 they have very different conditions than Earth, 856 00:45:14.901 --> 00:45:18.767 still, like the Earth, they change constantly. 857 00:45:18.767 --> 00:45:20.334 They have weather. 858 00:45:20.334 --> 00:45:22.200 They have catastrophic events. 859 00:45:22.200 --> 00:45:24.267 They have volcanoes. 860 00:45:24.267 --> 00:45:28.501 We observed a spectacular storm on Mars 861 00:45:28.501 --> 00:45:30.100 that you could see from Earth. 862 00:45:30.100 --> 00:45:33.534 You could see it progressing. 863 00:45:33.534 --> 00:45:37.667 We observed Aurora on Saturn and Jupiter, 864 00:45:37.667 --> 00:45:41.267 you know, spectacularly beautiful, Aurora coming up... 865 00:45:41.267 --> 00:45:44.934 Coming down on the poles that, 866 00:45:44.934 --> 00:45:50.367 you know, look somewhat similar to Aurora on Earth, 867 00:45:50.367 --> 00:45:54.467 and then of course the most spectacular thing of all which 868 00:45:54.467 --> 00:45:56.968 Hubble can't actually directly take credit for 869 00:45:56.968 --> 00:45:59.067 is the comets on... 870 00:45:59.067 --> 00:46:03.701 the comet collision with Jupiter, 871 00:46:03.701 --> 00:46:10.234 but Hubble was there to watch it and was able to see... 872 00:46:10.234 --> 00:46:14.033 There was a lot of fortuitous positive accident 873 00:46:14.033 --> 00:46:17.767 with that collision that we were able to see 874 00:46:17.767 --> 00:46:22.501 the plumes come up into the atmosphere at the collision 875 00:46:22.501 --> 00:46:24.501 and then see the fallout, 876 00:46:24.501 --> 00:46:28.100 and people really did a thorough diagnosis 877 00:46:28.100 --> 00:46:31.033 of the atmosphere of Jupiter and the impact, 878 00:46:31.033 --> 00:46:33.567 but all of those things very much change 879 00:46:33.567 --> 00:46:37.534 our picture of the solar system as an active system 880 00:46:37.534 --> 00:46:40.734 with day-to-day changes much like the day-to-day changes 881 00:46:40.734 --> 00:46:46.334 we have on Earth with weather, with volcanoes, 882 00:46:46.334 --> 00:46:49.334 and so in the future, 883 00:46:49.334 --> 00:46:52.033 what will we do with planets in the future? 884 00:46:52.033 --> 00:46:54.300 Well, one of the things that I think that we'll be able to do 885 00:46:54.300 --> 00:46:58.734 is a very detailed analysis of the atmospheres 886 00:46:58.734 --> 00:46:59.968 of these planets, 887 00:46:59.968 --> 00:47:01.901 and we will be able to look at the atmospheres 888 00:47:01.901 --> 00:47:05.667 across a very broad wavelength range, ultraviolet 889 00:47:05.667 --> 00:47:09.801 and optical and infrared and start to understand 890 00:47:09.801 --> 00:47:13.467 the composition of these atmospheres, 891 00:47:13.467 --> 00:47:18.400 and there's also more planetary science 892 00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:23.367 that we will do in the future on the formation of planets 893 00:47:23.367 --> 00:47:25.567 once we get the NICMOS back 894 00:47:25.567 --> 00:47:29.634 and running where you get an infrared capability, 895 00:47:29.634 --> 00:47:31.501 and what the infrared does for you 896 00:47:31.501 --> 00:47:35.167 is it allows you to see through those dark clouds 897 00:47:35.167 --> 00:47:37.467 where stars are forming. 898 00:47:37.467 --> 00:47:39.834 In the optical, they are obscured to you. 899 00:47:39.834 --> 00:47:43.067 The very regions of star formation are obscured to you, 900 00:47:43.067 --> 00:47:44.334 but as you go to the infrared, 901 00:47:44.334 --> 00:47:47.300 you are able to penetrate these regions, 902 00:47:47.300 --> 00:47:50.801 and again, that's an area where Hubble Space Telescope 903 00:47:50.801 --> 00:47:55.267 has had wonderful advances in seeing the little disks 904 00:47:55.267 --> 00:47:58.100 that appear around the forming stars 905 00:47:58.100 --> 00:48:00.300 which look to an astronomer's eye 906 00:48:00.300 --> 00:48:05.400 very much like a solar system before it's born, 907 00:48:05.400 --> 00:48:07.701 so I think that that's another area 908 00:48:07.701 --> 00:48:08.934 where Hubble Space Telescope 909 00:48:08.934 --> 00:48:12.567 will be making some real impacts, 910 00:48:12.567 --> 00:48:15.601 so I think we have some wonderful astronomy 911 00:48:15.601 --> 00:48:17.167 to look ahead to, 912 00:48:17.167 --> 00:48:20.801 and what we need to do now is get up there 913 00:48:20.801 --> 00:48:26.200 and get the telescope serviced so we can get back to work. 914 00:48:26.200 --> 00:48:27.801 -Okay. Well, thank you. 915 00:48:27.801 --> 00:48:31.133 We'll start now taking questions here at the end of the row. 916 00:48:31.133 --> 00:48:32.167 Please wait for the mic, 917 00:48:32.167 --> 00:48:33.667 and give us your name and affiliation. 918 00:48:33.667 --> 00:48:35.834 -Good morning, Peter King with CBS News Radio, 919 00:48:35.834 --> 00:48:38.767 and I hate to burst a bubble with the first question, 920 00:48:38.767 --> 00:48:41.367 but I was reading that the Hubble costs 921 00:48:41.367 --> 00:48:43.801 millions of dollars to operate every day, 922 00:48:43.801 --> 00:48:46.300 that it has not been functioning for the past month. 923 00:48:46.300 --> 00:48:48.267 I'm wondering if you could tell us 924 00:48:48.267 --> 00:48:50.534 how some of that money is spent 925 00:48:50.534 --> 00:48:55.434 and give us some idea of where it's being spent 926 00:48:55.434 --> 00:48:59.133 while it's not operating versus while it is operating? 927 00:48:59.133 --> 00:49:03.100 -Well, I think the cost for mission operation 928 00:49:03.100 --> 00:49:07.334 and data analysis is about 20 million a month, 929 00:49:07.334 --> 00:49:13.501 and, you know, obviously, when the telescope stops operating, 930 00:49:13.501 --> 00:49:15.667 you can't fire everybody and tell them to come home 931 00:49:15.667 --> 00:49:18.267 and come back later, 932 00:49:18.267 --> 00:49:25.334 so there is, you know, that funding is ongoing, 933 00:49:25.334 --> 00:49:27.334 but, of course, at the same time, 934 00:49:27.334 --> 00:49:31.501 Hubble has been taking data for 9 1/2 years, 935 00:49:31.501 --> 00:49:33.534 and the people who are doing data analysis 936 00:49:33.534 --> 00:49:36.200 are not doing data analysis on the data today. 937 00:49:36.200 --> 00:49:39.300 They're doing the analysis on the data that has been in hand, 938 00:49:39.300 --> 00:49:43.133 and likewise, there's a lot of work going on 939 00:49:43.133 --> 00:49:45.100 in the scheduling of the telescope, 940 00:49:45.100 --> 00:49:48.834 and for example, they have constructed schedules 941 00:49:48.834 --> 00:49:51.133 that are dependent on exactly which day the telescope 942 00:49:51.133 --> 00:49:52.734 starts to work again 943 00:49:52.734 --> 00:49:56.601 because what you schedule depends on, you know, 944 00:49:56.601 --> 00:49:59.834 when you flip the switch and you start work again, 945 00:49:59.834 --> 00:50:02.334 so a lot of it is ongoing work. 946 00:50:02.334 --> 00:50:05.434 -I guess the question I had is, do you have a bunch of people 947 00:50:05.434 --> 00:50:07.467 who are sitting around and not doing anything right now 948 00:50:07.467 --> 00:50:09.667 and just waiting for it to come back online? 949 00:50:09.667 --> 00:50:11.267 -We never never people like that. 950 00:50:11.267 --> 00:50:13.334 -Okay. -No. No. 951 00:50:13.334 --> 00:50:17.868 No, I mean, you know, there's an enormous amount of work 952 00:50:17.868 --> 00:50:21.634 both on the one end and on the other end. 953 00:50:21.634 --> 00:50:23.634 In fact, these things sometimes cause more work. 954 00:50:23.634 --> 00:50:25.767 As I said, they have to rework schedules, 955 00:50:25.767 --> 00:50:28.200 and they have several contingency schedules 956 00:50:28.200 --> 00:50:30.334 going at the same time so that they can pick it 957 00:50:30.334 --> 00:50:32.667 right up again when they're ready to go. 958 00:50:32.667 --> 00:50:34.968 -The majority of that 20 million per month 959 00:50:34.968 --> 00:50:37.834 is the people that do the servicing, 960 00:50:37.834 --> 00:50:40.501 and when the gyro failed, 961 00:50:40.501 --> 00:50:44.634 that caused us to rework our grapple time line, 962 00:50:44.634 --> 00:50:48.434 for example, and so these people actually began working harder, 963 00:50:48.434 --> 00:50:49.968 I think, than they were working before 964 00:50:49.968 --> 00:50:52.000 as we were getting ready for the mission, 965 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:54.901 so we certainly have not had our feet on a desk 966 00:50:54.901 --> 00:50:56.701 waiting for the shuttle to come. 967 00:50:56.701 --> 00:50:58.033 -Nobody likes delays, 968 00:50:58.033 --> 00:50:59.834 and they don't make anything easier for anybody. 969 00:50:59.834 --> 00:51:01.701 They really make things harder. 970 00:51:01.701 --> 00:51:03.334 -Okay, and one clarification of a figure 971 00:51:03.334 --> 00:51:04.901 that you gave us earlier, Dr. Kenny, 972 00:51:04.901 --> 00:51:07.968 that was that 1.000 proposals every year. 973 00:51:07.968 --> 00:51:11.133 How many proposals are accepted for the Hubble every year? 974 00:51:11.133 --> 00:51:13.801 -Let me give you the exact number this year, 975 00:51:13.801 --> 00:51:19.067 914 submitted proposals. 145 accepted proposals. 976 00:51:19.067 --> 00:51:24.000 and the acceptance rate is one per five by proposal, 977 00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:26.334 but it's one per six by orbit 978 00:51:26.334 --> 00:51:27.868 because many of the proposals are... 979 00:51:27.868 --> 00:51:30.100 They allocate slightly less sometimes 980 00:51:30.100 --> 00:51:34.033 than what people ask for, so those are the exact numbers. 981 00:51:34.033 --> 00:51:35.267 -Okay. 982 00:51:35.267 --> 00:51:38.334 Well, I'll take Jay and then back to Bill. 983 00:51:38.334 --> 00:51:40.868 -Jay Barbree with NBC, Dr. Kenny, 984 00:51:40.868 --> 00:51:42.667 I have some basic science questions, 985 00:51:42.667 --> 00:51:44.367 but first, I want to clarify, John, 986 00:51:44.367 --> 00:51:46.567 you said that the Hubble in its position now 987 00:51:46.567 --> 00:51:49.234 is rotating around the sun every hour and a half. 988 00:51:49.234 --> 00:51:51.400 You mean, of course, the face, the sun side 989 00:51:51.400 --> 00:51:54.968 is rotating on its own axis as it faces the sun, right? 990 00:51:54.968 --> 00:51:56.968 It's not rotating around the sun. 991 00:51:56.968 --> 00:51:58.100 -Oh, no. Sorry. 992 00:51:58.100 --> 00:51:58.901 -Yeah, okay, but... -Yeah, so it can... 993 00:51:58.901 --> 00:52:00.434 -But anyway, what is this doing? 994 00:52:00.434 --> 00:52:05.200 What is the time period that it is rotating now 360 degrees? 995 00:52:05.200 --> 00:52:07.200 -It's about one revolution per hour. 996 00:52:07.200 --> 00:52:08.701 -One revolution, about the same length 997 00:52:08.701 --> 00:52:10.234 as the orbit around Earth. 998 00:52:10.234 --> 00:52:14.133 -Yeah, approximately. -Yeah, and Dr. Kenny, 999 00:52:14.133 --> 00:52:17.400 what are the estimated number of stars now in the universe 1000 00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:20.501 that Hubble can account for, the number... 1001 00:52:20.501 --> 00:52:21.868 -Oh. -...of galaxies 1002 00:52:21.868 --> 00:52:25.701 that it can account for now and the farthest distance? 1003 00:52:25.701 --> 00:52:27.734 You were talking about talking about looking 60 percent 1004 00:52:27.734 --> 00:52:29.100 by galaxies. 1005 00:52:29.100 --> 00:52:31.200 What is the farthest distance in light-years 1006 00:52:31.200 --> 00:52:34.834 that Hubble has recorded an image to date, 1007 00:52:34.834 --> 00:52:36.400 and how close are you 1008 00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:39.601 to determining with Hubble the universe's age? 1009 00:52:42.467 --> 00:52:44.267 -Hubble Space Telescope can observe 1010 00:52:44.267 --> 00:52:47.033 exactly a squidzillion stars. 1011 00:52:47.033 --> 00:52:48.634 I don't know... -Spell that out. 1012 00:52:48.634 --> 00:52:50.634 -I can't spell it, no. I don't know... 1013 00:52:50.634 --> 00:52:51.934 I don't know how to... 1014 00:52:51.934 --> 00:52:53.567 I don't know how many zeros behind the number, 1015 00:52:53.567 --> 00:52:57.467 but too bad Carl Sagan isn't here, 1016 00:52:57.467 --> 00:52:59.868 and you could say billions and...squidzillion. 1017 00:52:59.868 --> 00:53:01.300 -Squidzillion, right? 1018 00:53:01.300 --> 00:53:04.033 -I made that word up, so... I'm sorry! 1019 00:53:04.033 --> 00:53:09.000 -I was going to quote you! -Oh, dear. 1020 00:53:09.000 --> 00:53:10.801 Yeah, but, you know, 1021 00:53:10.801 --> 00:53:14.300 there's about 10 to the 11 stars per galaxy. 1022 00:53:14.300 --> 00:53:18.434 That's the billions and billions of our...of dear Carl Sagan. 1023 00:53:20.667 --> 00:53:23.400 -How about the number of galaxies that there are? 1024 00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:29.234 -Let's see. That's almost as many. 1025 00:53:29.234 --> 00:53:30.267 Again, I don't have the... 1026 00:53:30.267 --> 00:53:31.701 -Are you saying you quit counting? 1027 00:53:31.701 --> 00:53:32.934 -Yeah. 1028 00:53:32.934 --> 00:53:36.067 Yeah. -Yeah. 1029 00:53:36.067 --> 00:53:38.300 -I don't have the number on the tip of my tongue 1030 00:53:38.300 --> 00:53:41.601 like I did for the number of stars. 1031 00:53:41.601 --> 00:53:42.901 -How about the farthest distance? 1032 00:53:42.901 --> 00:53:48.167 -Well, let me tell you a really innovative proposal 1033 00:53:48.167 --> 00:53:54.033 that is the deepest observation that Hubble has ever made, 1034 00:53:54.033 --> 00:53:57.300 and it's really... It's just so clever. 1035 00:53:57.300 --> 00:53:59.767 You know about gravitational lensing. 1036 00:53:59.767 --> 00:54:04.834 If you have a massive body with something shining behind it, 1037 00:54:04.834 --> 00:54:08.100 that massive body bends the light and focuses the light. 1038 00:54:08.100 --> 00:54:10.667 You can also do this with wine glasses, 1039 00:54:10.667 --> 00:54:11.968 but you have to hold them up, 1040 00:54:11.968 --> 00:54:13.334 so you can't have anything in the wine glass. 1041 00:54:13.334 --> 00:54:17.734 A wine glass seen from the end operations 1042 00:54:17.734 --> 00:54:19.200 something like a gravitational lens. 1043 00:54:19.200 --> 00:54:24.300 It focuses light, so you can, through a gravitational lens, 1044 00:54:24.300 --> 00:54:28.467 you can sometimes observe an object that is very distant, 1045 00:54:28.467 --> 00:54:29.634 and there was... 1046 00:54:29.634 --> 00:54:34.567 This trick was used with a very distant galaxy 1047 00:54:34.567 --> 00:54:36.467 that was observed as a lens, 1048 00:54:36.467 --> 00:54:38.701 and they actually put a slit on it 1049 00:54:38.701 --> 00:54:40.534 and were able to take a spectrum of it 1050 00:54:40.534 --> 00:54:44.133 with Hubble Space Telescope, and that particular image 1051 00:54:44.133 --> 00:54:49.667 went back to 93 percent of the age of the universe. 1052 00:54:49.667 --> 00:54:53.834 It went really very far back, and of course, 1053 00:54:53.834 --> 00:54:55.968 what it really meant was there are galaxies 1054 00:54:55.968 --> 00:54:59.701 back at 93 percent of the age of the universe. 1055 00:54:59.701 --> 00:55:01.634 -What's the age? -Hmm. 1056 00:55:01.634 --> 00:55:03.100 -I mean, what's the latest thinking? 1057 00:55:03.100 --> 00:55:05.334 -I think the latest thinking is about 12 billion. 1058 00:55:05.334 --> 00:55:07.801 -Twelve billion? -Yeah. 1059 00:55:07.801 --> 00:55:09.667 -Bill. -Bill Harwood, CBS, 1060 00:55:09.667 --> 00:55:11.033 John, just... 1061 00:55:11.033 --> 00:55:12.868 I want to make sure I understood the grapple attitude, 1062 00:55:12.868 --> 00:55:14.601 what you were saying earlier. 1063 00:55:14.601 --> 00:55:16.067 If you take Earth out of the picture, 1064 00:55:16.067 --> 00:55:18.801 and once you turn on the retrieval mode gyro assembly, 1065 00:55:18.801 --> 00:55:20.868 and it basically stops the rotation, 1066 00:55:20.868 --> 00:55:24.167 you were saying a little bit before TI, I guess, 1067 00:55:24.167 --> 00:55:27.167 that's a random position as far as the astronauts are concerned, 1068 00:55:27.167 --> 00:55:29.334 but when the astronauts finally get there, 1069 00:55:29.334 --> 00:55:31.000 they will essentially, if you take Earth out of it, 1070 00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:33.400 approach it from the base like an R-bar approach. 1071 00:55:33.400 --> 00:55:34.501 It's just it isn't on the R-bar. 1072 00:55:34.501 --> 00:55:36.434 Am I correct in assuming that? 1073 00:55:36.434 --> 00:55:39.200 -Yes. It is an R-bar approach, 1074 00:55:39.200 --> 00:55:43.334 and again, if you're the sun, then... 1075 00:55:43.334 --> 00:55:45.300 And we've fixed now, 1076 00:55:45.300 --> 00:55:48.467 and the grapple fixture is back behind here where I'm pointing, 1077 00:55:48.467 --> 00:55:52.067 and so the orbiter needs to get around 1078 00:55:52.067 --> 00:55:54.934 and be able to grapple that fixture, 1079 00:55:54.934 --> 00:55:57.434 and it should be easy to do because the telescope 1080 00:55:57.434 --> 00:55:59.267 will just be fixed in space. 1081 00:55:59.267 --> 00:56:00.868 -What I'm trying to figure is though, 1082 00:56:00.868 --> 00:56:03.033 does the commander position the orbiter 1083 00:56:03.033 --> 00:56:05.767 so that he's approaching low Z 1084 00:56:05.767 --> 00:56:08.267 to minimize plume impingement on the solar rays, 1085 00:56:08.267 --> 00:56:10.434 but he's approaching from... 1086 00:56:10.434 --> 00:56:12.200 There is no... I'm trying to say from below. 1087 00:56:12.200 --> 00:56:13.868 I'm picturing the regular R-bar approach, 1088 00:56:13.868 --> 00:56:15.300 but it's the same as that. 1089 00:56:15.300 --> 00:56:16.667 It's just it's not on the R-bar. 1090 00:56:16.667 --> 00:56:19.234 The Earth isn't below it. 1091 00:56:19.234 --> 00:56:20.567 -It's an R-bar approach, 1092 00:56:20.567 --> 00:56:23.267 and I'm about ready to exceed my knowledge 1093 00:56:23.267 --> 00:56:27.634 on how exactly the shuttle maneuvers, 1094 00:56:27.634 --> 00:56:29.300 but it's an R-bar approach, 1095 00:56:29.300 --> 00:56:35.300 and what low Z means is using a series of thrusters 1096 00:56:35.300 --> 00:56:39.334 on the orbiter as it's getting closer so that it does... 1097 00:56:39.334 --> 00:56:42.534 So the thrusters don't impinge the solar rays 1098 00:56:42.534 --> 00:56:43.968 or any part of the spacecraft. 1099 00:56:43.968 --> 00:56:46.901 It does that, and that's about as much as I can do. 1100 00:56:46.901 --> 00:56:49.400 I think we'll have to work offline, 1101 00:56:49.400 --> 00:56:52.234 and maybe we can get some of the shuttle folks to help out. 1102 00:56:52.234 --> 00:56:53.934 -I think I understand it, 1103 00:56:53.934 --> 00:56:55.734 and the other one is once the repairs are completed, 1104 00:56:55.734 --> 00:56:58.267 assuming you launch on the 16th, I know you have 1105 00:56:58.267 --> 00:57:00.868 to let things equalize once the shuttle goes away. 1106 00:57:00.868 --> 00:57:03.501 When is the earliest that it could be back up 1107 00:57:03.501 --> 00:57:05.167 to doing science again? -Right. 1108 00:57:05.167 --> 00:57:09.434 The nominal timeline would have us deployed on the... 1109 00:57:09.434 --> 00:57:13.701 late on the 23rd, and then we take about 2 more weeks 1110 00:57:13.701 --> 00:57:18.000 to test out what's been installed, 1111 00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:21.300 let the contamination that might have gotten in 1112 00:57:21.300 --> 00:57:23.968 from the astronauts working around, 1113 00:57:23.968 --> 00:57:27.400 get that outgassed, and after those 2 weeks, 1114 00:57:27.400 --> 00:57:31.968 we should be able to begin doing science using WFPC2. 1115 00:57:34.601 --> 00:57:39.167 -Todd? -Todd Halvorson, space.com, 1116 00:57:39.167 --> 00:57:41.200 for either one of you, 1117 00:57:41.200 --> 00:57:43.667 I was wondering if you could give us an idea 1118 00:57:43.667 --> 00:57:47.501 of how many observations with Hubble have had to be 1119 00:57:47.501 --> 00:57:52.100 either delayed or canceled since the shutdown in November, 1120 00:57:52.100 --> 00:57:56.534 and how many more would have to be either delayed or canceled 1121 00:57:56.534 --> 00:58:00.267 if this mission got pushed for some reason into January? 1122 00:58:02.367 --> 00:58:03.734 -Let's see. 1123 00:58:03.734 --> 00:58:05.267 I'm just trying to figure out how many hours in a day 1124 00:58:05.267 --> 00:58:13.467 and days in a month, 720 hours, two-thirds of that, 500 orbits, 1125 00:58:13.467 --> 00:58:17.834 500 orbits' worth of observations. 1126 00:58:17.834 --> 00:58:23.534 Observations will go anywhere from one orbit to 30 orbits, 1127 00:58:23.534 --> 00:58:25.133 so... 1128 00:58:27.267 --> 00:58:28.734 -So there's about four... -Probably... 1129 00:58:28.734 --> 00:58:31.234 -Four hundred and fifty orbits in a month. 1130 00:58:31.234 --> 00:58:34.267 -Yeah, so, you know, any... 1131 00:58:34.267 --> 00:58:37.200 A hundred programs, say, put off. 1132 00:58:37.200 --> 00:58:40.000 None of them are canceled. 1133 00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:42.267 That's why they are working on the cues. 1134 00:58:42.267 --> 00:58:45.000 They're working on the scheduling to getting all 1135 00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:47.534 these things running again, and in fact, 1136 00:58:47.534 --> 00:58:50.801 one of the considerations with this latest panel review 1137 00:58:50.801 --> 00:58:52.467 that I was telling you about 1138 00:58:52.467 --> 00:58:56.634 is it depends on how soon they can start operating again 1139 00:58:56.634 --> 00:58:58.634 because the sooner they start operating again, 1140 00:58:58.634 --> 00:59:00.234 the more orbits they have to allocate, 1141 00:59:00.234 --> 00:59:02.868 so this is something everybody cares about. 1142 00:59:05.367 --> 00:59:08.000 -Craig. -Craig Covault, Aviation Week, 1143 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:11.434 for John, following on Bill's question again 1144 00:59:11.434 --> 00:59:15.667 on when you go to the RMGAs, 1145 00:59:15.667 --> 00:59:19.334 will you time that activation of RMGAs 1146 00:59:19.334 --> 00:59:21.901 to a particular Hubble attitude? 1147 00:59:21.901 --> 00:59:24.834 Do you have good attitude data on Hubble? 1148 00:59:24.834 --> 00:59:26.801 Is that part of the equation 1149 00:59:26.801 --> 00:59:29.367 in timing out the rendezvous and the Prox Ops? 1150 00:59:29.367 --> 00:59:30.868 -No, we don't have... 1151 00:59:30.868 --> 00:59:35.901 In a zero-gyro mode, we don't have good attitude information. 1152 00:59:35.901 --> 00:59:39.734 The telescope is kept on the sun line 1153 00:59:39.734 --> 00:59:41.734 by devices called coarse sun sensors 1154 00:59:41.734 --> 00:59:46.300 which are very coarse, and we don't have attitude. 1155 00:59:46.300 --> 00:59:51.100 We in fact will time the switch from the zero-gyro mode 1156 00:59:51.100 --> 00:59:56.634 to the hardware safe mode with these retrieval-mode gyros 1157 00:59:56.634 --> 00:59:58.834 according to where we are in the orbit, 1158 00:59:58.834 --> 01:00:04.701 and the zero-gyro mode does not have any control 1159 01:00:04.701 --> 01:00:06.834 during the nighttime, 1160 01:00:06.834 --> 01:00:09.100 and when it comes out of the night, 1161 01:00:09.100 --> 01:00:11.801 the coarse sun sensors are used to put the telescope 1162 01:00:11.801 --> 01:00:13.901 back onto the sun line, 1163 01:00:13.901 --> 01:00:18.567 and sometimes the telescope drifts off 15 to 30 degrees, 1164 01:00:18.567 --> 01:00:20.567 sometimes more on occasion, 1165 01:00:20.567 --> 01:00:22.434 and we want to wait until the sun line... 1166 01:00:22.434 --> 01:00:26.300 until the telescope gets back under this mode, is stable, 1167 01:00:26.300 --> 01:00:29.267 and so we'll put this... We'll change modes 1168 01:00:29.267 --> 01:00:32.000 about two-thirds of the way through the orbit, 1169 01:00:32.000 --> 01:00:34.467 guaranteeing that this new mode will lock onto the sun 1170 01:00:34.467 --> 01:00:36.934 and be stable as it goes through the night, 1171 01:00:36.934 --> 01:00:41.534 so the timing is done by where we were in the orbit 1172 01:00:41.534 --> 01:00:44.767 as opposed to where we are in altitude. 1173 01:00:46.968 --> 01:00:49.501 -Justin Ray with spaceflightnow.com, 1174 01:00:49.501 --> 01:00:51.000 I guess for John, I was wondering 1175 01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:52.234 if you could talk a little bit 1176 01:00:52.234 --> 01:00:56.334 about what effect losing EVA 4 would have 1177 01:00:56.334 --> 01:00:59.133 if you didn't make it off the ground until the 18th, 1178 01:00:59.133 --> 01:01:02.467 what effect that would have on the 3B mission. 1179 01:01:02.467 --> 01:01:05.133 Does that add another EVA to that mission, 1180 01:01:05.133 --> 01:01:08.801 and how many EVAs are currently planned for 3B? 1181 01:01:08.801 --> 01:01:11.601 -Okay, the question really points to the fact 1182 01:01:11.601 --> 01:01:15.400 that we're planning four EVA days, 1183 01:01:15.400 --> 01:01:19.200 that is, four spacewalks for this mission, 1184 01:01:19.200 --> 01:01:23.968 and if we launch on the 16th, we should have time to do that, 1185 01:01:23.968 --> 01:01:26.701 but if for some reason we're delayed 1186 01:01:26.701 --> 01:01:30.934 'til the 18th, then... so that we could fly 1187 01:01:30.934 --> 01:01:36.234 and get down before the end of the holidays 1188 01:01:36.234 --> 01:01:38.434 and the transition to the new millennium, 1189 01:01:38.434 --> 01:01:40.434 Y2K issues, et cetera, 1190 01:01:40.434 --> 01:01:44.634 that we looked at what we're doing and have decided 1191 01:01:44.634 --> 01:01:48.300 that we'd be willing to eliminate 1192 01:01:48.300 --> 01:01:54.300 one of the four EVAs, and this fourth EVA 1193 01:01:54.300 --> 01:02:00.868 is there nominally to put the wallpaper MLI on. 1194 01:02:00.868 --> 01:02:05.434 To date, we really have not seen any degradation 1195 01:02:05.434 --> 01:02:07.200 in terms of performance, 1196 01:02:09.234 --> 01:02:16.133 so this multi-layer installation is for preventive maintenance 1197 01:02:16.133 --> 01:02:19.000 rather than corrective maintenance, 1198 01:02:19.000 --> 01:02:21.501 so that's likely to be delayed to the next mission. 1199 01:02:21.501 --> 01:02:25.300 Now, the next mission has got five spacewalks 1200 01:02:25.300 --> 01:02:26.634 associated with it, 1201 01:02:26.634 --> 01:02:29.434 and we really haven't timed that out well enough 1202 01:02:29.434 --> 01:02:35.934 to be able to see whether this wallpaper would be... 1203 01:02:35.934 --> 01:02:39.601 We could put that on some time during these spacewalks. 1204 01:02:39.601 --> 01:02:42.534 Now, it's pretty simple to do because we don't have to power 1205 01:02:42.534 --> 01:02:45.667 boxes off or power boxes on, 1206 01:02:45.667 --> 01:02:48.200 so the ground doesn't have to get involved, 1207 01:02:48.200 --> 01:02:51.400 and the crew can put any one of... 1208 01:02:51.400 --> 01:02:54.501 There are seven of them... Can put on any one of them 1209 01:02:54.501 --> 01:02:58.601 at any time, and so there's a lot of discretionary choice 1210 01:02:58.601 --> 01:03:02.200 that the crew would have in servicing mission 3B, 1211 01:03:02.200 --> 01:03:05.968 and we're hoping that it would get installed then, and if not, 1212 01:03:05.968 --> 01:03:11.133 then we could even wait until servicing mission four. 1213 01:03:11.133 --> 01:03:13.200 -And I was wondering if, Anne, if you could talk at all 1214 01:03:13.200 --> 01:03:15.400 about next-generation space telescope, 1215 01:03:15.400 --> 01:03:21.868 where you are and the status of the designing of the mission 1216 01:03:21.868 --> 01:03:24.133 and some of the science observations and science 1217 01:03:24.133 --> 01:03:27.300 that the new telescope will bring beyond Hubble. 1218 01:03:30.701 --> 01:03:32.400 -We also have somebody else in the audience 1219 01:03:32.400 --> 01:03:34.934 that could help address that question, 1220 01:03:34.934 --> 01:03:40.367 but let me just say... Let me just say a few words. 1221 01:03:40.367 --> 01:03:43.033 We're about to go into... 1222 01:03:43.033 --> 01:03:45.033 We're making decisions right now about, 1223 01:03:45.033 --> 01:03:48.767 what are the highest priorities for instruments, 1224 01:03:48.767 --> 01:03:51.367 instrumentation for NGST? 1225 01:03:51.367 --> 01:03:54.434 And that is a discussion that is based 1226 01:03:54.434 --> 01:03:58.200 on a combination of optimizing the science 1227 01:03:58.200 --> 01:04:02.934 and holding the line on the budget, 1228 01:04:02.934 --> 01:04:06.901 you know, trying to avoid the Christmas tree effect 1229 01:04:06.901 --> 01:04:11.801 where everybody wants everything. 1230 01:04:11.801 --> 01:04:16.467 As far as the science goes, probably, again, 1231 01:04:16.467 --> 01:04:20.734 the easiest thing to discuss is the understanding 1232 01:04:20.734 --> 01:04:24.000 of the actual formation of galaxies, 1233 01:04:24.000 --> 01:04:26.334 and, as you know, as you look at something 1234 01:04:26.334 --> 01:04:29.067 in the very distant universe, it's redshifted, 1235 01:04:29.067 --> 01:04:31.701 so if you are looking at a galaxy 1236 01:04:31.701 --> 01:04:34.534 that emitted only in the ultraviolet, 1237 01:04:34.534 --> 01:04:38.033 but that galaxy were 90 percent of the way 1238 01:04:38.033 --> 01:04:39.534 back to the beginning of the universe, 1239 01:04:39.534 --> 01:04:43.834 that would appear to you to be infrared radiation, 1240 01:04:43.834 --> 01:04:48.234 and that, of course, is exactly what NGST is designed to do, 1241 01:04:48.234 --> 01:04:51.601 and do you have anything to add? 1242 01:04:51.601 --> 01:04:53.801 Dave Leckrone is here. 1243 01:04:53.801 --> 01:04:55.567 -Just want to say... -Oh, Dave, wait. 1244 01:04:55.567 --> 01:04:57.467 Please wait for the mic. 1245 01:04:57.467 --> 01:05:01.000 -Just saying that we're... Well, I can shout. 1246 01:05:01.000 --> 01:05:02.934 Just to add that working very hard 1247 01:05:02.934 --> 01:05:05.501 on all of the technologies that have to go into NGST 1248 01:05:05.501 --> 01:05:07.968 because to break this cost paradigm 1249 01:05:07.968 --> 01:05:10.334 and do something so grand at a low cost 1250 01:05:10.334 --> 01:05:12.167 will involve almost purely new technology 1251 01:05:12.167 --> 01:05:13.934 in every aspect of the telescope, 1252 01:05:13.934 --> 01:05:16.434 and there's very good progress on that front, 1253 01:05:16.434 --> 01:05:20.534 and we still look forward to launching NGST in 2007 1254 01:05:20.534 --> 01:05:22.067 or perhaps early 2008. 1255 01:05:22.067 --> 01:05:23.067 -More likely 8. -Yeah. 1256 01:05:23.067 --> 01:05:25.033 -Yeah. 1257 01:05:25.033 --> 01:05:28.968 -We have questions up front there and then Marcia second. 1258 01:05:28.968 --> 01:05:30.100 He was first. 1259 01:05:30.100 --> 01:05:31.767 -Yes, Stefano Coledan with UPI 1260 01:05:31.767 --> 01:05:34.300 and Popular Mechanics, Dr. Kinney, 1261 01:05:34.300 --> 01:05:37.133 how many black holes has Hubble discovered 1262 01:05:37.133 --> 01:05:41.801 since it started discovering black holes? 1263 01:05:41.801 --> 01:05:45.567 -I'm not going to have a precise answer for that question. 1264 01:05:45.567 --> 01:05:53.567 I think it's above a dozen and, you know, less than 50. 1265 01:05:53.567 --> 01:05:57.434 What it has found is that it has found black holes 1266 01:05:57.434 --> 01:05:59.534 in the centers of normal galaxies, 1267 01:05:59.534 --> 01:06:03.234 not just the very bright active galaxies 1268 01:06:03.234 --> 01:06:04.767 where they were expected to be found 1269 01:06:04.767 --> 01:06:07.767 but also in the centers of normal galaxies, 1270 01:06:07.767 --> 01:06:11.367 and they're starting to correlate the black holes 1271 01:06:11.367 --> 01:06:12.968 with the mass of the galaxy, 1272 01:06:12.968 --> 01:06:15.601 and so that's the plot I'm trying to remember 1273 01:06:15.601 --> 01:06:18.801 as to how many objects are actually on that plot, 1274 01:06:18.801 --> 01:06:22.367 and I think it's, you know, of order 15 to 20. 1275 01:06:22.367 --> 01:06:23.434 That's a guess. 1276 01:06:23.434 --> 01:06:24.734 -When was the first one discovered? 1277 01:06:24.734 --> 01:06:30.100 Was it '94 or... -M87, I...was it... 1278 01:06:30.100 --> 01:06:34.133 -'94. -'94, okay, 1994, yeah. 1279 01:06:34.133 --> 01:06:35.667 -Marcia and then Phil. 1280 01:06:35.667 --> 01:06:40.868 -Marcia Dunn, Associated Press for Dr. Campbell. 1281 01:06:40.868 --> 01:06:44.067 If you get up there, and you see that the installation 1282 01:06:44.067 --> 01:06:46.534 is even in worse shape than you ever dreamt, 1283 01:06:46.534 --> 01:06:50.968 and you're stuck with it having to cancel that fourth EVA, 1284 01:06:50.968 --> 01:06:53.167 would you consider bumping something else at that point 1285 01:06:53.167 --> 01:06:54.567 so you could get the job done? 1286 01:06:54.567 --> 01:06:59.133 And also, is it feasible to think that the instruments 1287 01:06:59.133 --> 01:07:01.033 could start warming up in the next couple years 1288 01:07:01.033 --> 01:07:05.133 as you wait for another mission, which could also be delayed? 1289 01:07:05.133 --> 01:07:07.200 What's the risk, I guess is what I'm asking. 1290 01:07:07.200 --> 01:07:10.234 -We've actually talked about that 1291 01:07:10.234 --> 01:07:14.901 as we set the priorities for the mission, 1292 01:07:14.901 --> 01:07:20.467 and we're prepared to have more cracks and broken installation 1293 01:07:20.467 --> 01:07:23.734 on this mission than we've seen in the last one, 1294 01:07:23.734 --> 01:07:26.601 and yet, as I said earlier, there's been no effect. 1295 01:07:26.601 --> 01:07:30.834 That is, we can't see any change in thermal parameters 1296 01:07:30.834 --> 01:07:33.000 or focus of the telescope, 1297 01:07:33.000 --> 01:07:35.701 so we've decided that if that happens 1298 01:07:35.701 --> 01:07:37.801 that we're not going to change our priorities, 1299 01:07:37.801 --> 01:07:43.067 and if we don't get that done, then we'll do it later. 1300 01:07:43.067 --> 01:07:45.501 -And is there a chance 1301 01:07:45.501 --> 01:07:50.968 that that decision could come back to haunt you before 2001? 1302 01:07:50.968 --> 01:07:53.133 -I...Well, I don't know. 1303 01:07:53.133 --> 01:07:54.634 We think not. 1304 01:07:54.634 --> 01:07:58.167 We believe we understand what's happened to the installation, 1305 01:07:58.167 --> 01:08:00.334 that it's only the outer layer that's cracked 1306 01:08:00.334 --> 01:08:06.868 and that the insulation below that is working quite well, 1307 01:08:06.868 --> 01:08:11.200 so we don't expect to have a rapid degradation 1308 01:08:11.200 --> 01:08:15.100 in our thermal capability, and I think if you... 1309 01:08:15.100 --> 01:08:16.801 I don't know whether Jackie Townsend 1310 01:08:16.801 --> 01:08:19.300 would like to comment on that. 1311 01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:22.133 -I'd also like to ask her, here you have been... 1312 01:08:22.133 --> 01:08:23.501 Oh, there you are. 1313 01:08:23.501 --> 01:08:26.033 You've been rushing to get this ready what should been 1314 01:08:26.033 --> 01:08:29.701 a couple months ago, and how does it feel for you now 1315 01:08:29.701 --> 01:08:32.200 to think that you might have rushed for nothing? 1316 01:08:34.234 --> 01:08:37.234 -One of the things John didn't mention is that 1317 01:08:37.234 --> 01:08:39.367 there are two different types of insulation 1318 01:08:39.367 --> 01:08:41.501 replacement material that we're installing, 1319 01:08:41.501 --> 01:08:44.367 and the first is the nobles, those stainless steel pieces 1320 01:08:44.367 --> 01:08:46.767 with the vent plug that he showed. 1321 01:08:46.767 --> 01:08:50.067 Those are going on on day 3, so those are not at risk, 1322 01:08:50.067 --> 01:08:54.734 even if we lose EVA day 4, and those cover equipment bays, 1323 01:08:54.734 --> 01:08:57.501 so things that are more thermally sensitive 1324 01:08:57.501 --> 01:09:01.400 are inside those equipment bays, and that's what 1325 01:09:01.400 --> 01:09:05.100 our primary concern in terms of thermal issues go. 1326 01:09:05.100 --> 01:09:06.734 Up on the forward shell and light shield, 1327 01:09:06.734 --> 01:09:09.934 where the SSRFs are going on on day 4, 1328 01:09:09.934 --> 01:09:12.067 you're really talking about mechanical changes 1329 01:09:12.067 --> 01:09:14.033 to the telescope, kind of a banana effect 1330 01:09:14.033 --> 01:09:15.934 if you get thermal changes, and those have to be 1331 01:09:15.934 --> 01:09:18.501 enormous thermal swings for that to happen. 1332 01:09:18.501 --> 01:09:20.968 Thermally, the telescope is very robust, 1333 01:09:20.968 --> 01:09:26.167 so in terms of risking loss of science 1334 01:09:26.167 --> 01:09:30.167 due to insulation problems, that's a very, very low risk, 1335 01:09:30.167 --> 01:09:34.033 so your second question was, how do I feel with the delays? 1336 01:09:34.033 --> 01:09:36.567 This is actually my first launch and my first flow for Hubble, 1337 01:09:36.567 --> 01:09:39.000 so I'm actually still kind of excited and enthusiastic 1338 01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:40.634 about it all, 1339 01:09:40.634 --> 01:09:43.634 and, of course, I'm as eager as everybody is to get up there 1340 01:09:43.634 --> 01:09:46.000 and to resolve these issues, 1341 01:09:46.000 --> 01:09:48.100 so we can get back to doing our science. 1342 01:09:52.300 --> 01:09:53.534 -I guess you're up 1343 01:09:53.534 --> 01:09:56.501 to about 33 days now without science, 1344 01:09:56.501 --> 01:09:58.300 any idea of what the previous record was 1345 01:09:58.300 --> 01:10:00.367 and when that was set, longest time 1346 01:10:00.367 --> 01:10:03.234 you had to be out of service and any regrets 1347 01:10:03.234 --> 01:10:08.100 that we've had an incredibly bright nova recently that... 1348 01:10:08.100 --> 01:10:09.868 one lost target opportunity 1349 01:10:09.868 --> 01:10:13.467 that you're never going to be able to reschedule. 1350 01:10:13.467 --> 01:10:18.300 -Let me answer the first one. -Oh, good, you know the answer. 1351 01:10:18.300 --> 01:10:21.667 -Well, yeah, this is since launch and since commissioning 1352 01:10:21.667 --> 01:10:25.000 that we've never been down this length of time. 1353 01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:26.701 This is the longest time we've been down. 1354 01:10:26.701 --> 01:10:28.067 -But how long is the previous record 1355 01:10:28.067 --> 01:10:29.968 and any idea of when it was? 1356 01:10:29.968 --> 01:10:32.767 -That I'm not able to give you in terms of days. 1357 01:10:34.834 --> 01:10:38.300 Again, let me say that at launch in 1990, 1358 01:10:38.300 --> 01:10:39.567 there was a commissioning period 1359 01:10:39.567 --> 01:10:42.334 before the instruments were turned on, 1360 01:10:42.334 --> 01:10:46.000 and since then, when we have a servicing mission, 1361 01:10:46.000 --> 01:10:48.167 we're down for the period of time 1362 01:10:48.167 --> 01:10:51.200 that the servicing takes place and then roughly the 2 weeks 1363 01:10:51.200 --> 01:10:53.334 that I mentioned earlier before we can get 1364 01:10:53.334 --> 01:10:56.501 the instruments back up and operational. 1365 01:10:56.501 --> 01:10:58.000 -And as far as the other question, 1366 01:10:58.000 --> 01:11:02.601 it's always keenly felt when the telescope is not operating. 1367 01:11:02.601 --> 01:11:05.734 Now, I don't know if that nova would have been observed anyway. 1368 01:11:05.734 --> 01:11:11.434 To have been observed, someone would have to make a... 1369 01:11:11.434 --> 01:11:13.901 They would have either had to make a case ahead of time 1370 01:11:13.901 --> 01:11:18.167 for nova to be ready to go 1371 01:11:18.167 --> 01:11:20.434 when one goes off, or they would have had to submit 1372 01:11:20.434 --> 01:11:22.033 a discretionary proposal on the time, 1373 01:11:22.033 --> 01:11:23.734 and I have no idea if somebody did that. 1374 01:11:23.734 --> 01:11:27.701 I do know that there were no occultation observations 1375 01:11:27.701 --> 01:11:29.667 that were irretrievably lost, 1376 01:11:29.667 --> 01:11:34.000 or there were no unique astronomical events 1377 01:11:34.000 --> 01:11:35.734 that were uniquely... 1378 01:11:35.734 --> 01:11:38.033 that were known ahead of time that were lost, 1379 01:11:38.033 --> 01:11:40.467 you know, of the occultation type, 1380 01:11:40.467 --> 01:11:43.200 but it is absolutely keenly felt 1381 01:11:43.200 --> 01:11:45.167 that the telescope is up there not doing anything. 1382 01:11:45.167 --> 01:11:46.901 There is no doubt about that. 1383 01:11:46.901 --> 01:11:50.067 There is an enormous desire to get the telescopes fixed, 1384 01:11:50.067 --> 01:11:52.200 and you don't like the thing to not be working. 1385 01:11:52.200 --> 01:11:55.367 You want it up working. It's like a car. 1386 01:11:55.367 --> 01:11:57.167 You don't want to leave a car, you know, 1387 01:11:57.167 --> 01:11:58.701 sitting in the garage and not running. 1388 01:11:58.701 --> 01:12:00.968 That's not good for the car. 1389 01:12:00.968 --> 01:12:07.634 You want it operating, you know, flexed, at work, on target. 1390 01:12:07.634 --> 01:12:09.400 -I'll say. -And for John, 1391 01:12:09.400 --> 01:12:12.667 can you split down for us the cost of the gyros? 1392 01:12:12.667 --> 01:12:15.734 How much did it cost originally to develop and purchase 1393 01:12:15.734 --> 01:12:20.167 the flight set and backups in 1993 or in the 1980s? 1394 01:12:20.167 --> 01:12:22.267 How much did it cost for the refurbishment 1395 01:12:22.267 --> 01:12:23.567 on the first flight? 1396 01:12:23.567 --> 01:12:26.033 And I assume the $8 million figure being given 1397 01:12:26.033 --> 01:12:30.601 is just the cost for this particular mission. 1398 01:12:30.601 --> 01:12:32.467 -You all have fact sheets, 1399 01:12:32.467 --> 01:12:35.868 and this number that you're asking for is $8 million 1400 01:12:35.868 --> 01:12:39.501 for the building of six gyros, 1401 01:12:39.501 --> 01:12:44.167 and that cost would have been the same for the gyros 1402 01:12:44.167 --> 01:12:47.434 that we installed in the first servicing mission. 1403 01:12:47.434 --> 01:12:49.067 -So 8 million just for this mission? 1404 01:12:49.067 --> 01:12:52.767 -Eight million for this... these six gyros, yes. 1405 01:12:52.767 --> 01:12:54.067 -I think we have time for perhaps 1406 01:12:54.067 --> 01:12:56.234 one final question here, Todd. 1407 01:13:00.634 --> 01:13:04.801 -Todd Halvorson, space.com, for Anne Kinney, you mentioned 1408 01:13:04.801 --> 01:13:08.701 that you haven't missed any real astronomical events, 1409 01:13:08.701 --> 01:13:12.434 but I'm wondering if you can maybe pick out 1410 01:13:12.434 --> 01:13:14.701 of the top of your head a couple 1411 01:13:14.701 --> 01:13:18.767 of the more interesting projects that might be being delayed, 1412 01:13:18.767 --> 01:13:21.300 and I know every project is interesting, 1413 01:13:21.300 --> 01:13:25.234 but perhaps, you could give us an idea of a couple of things 1414 01:13:25.234 --> 01:13:28.067 that have been delayed because of the shutdown. 1415 01:13:30.534 --> 01:13:33.067 -I'd really prefer not to do that. 1416 01:13:33.067 --> 01:13:36.701 There is one that is of enormous interest to me, 1417 01:13:36.701 --> 01:13:41.000 but I just assume, keep quiet about it for now, 1418 01:13:41.000 --> 01:13:43.367 so the answer is, 1419 01:13:43.367 --> 01:13:45.267 I'm not going to answer that question. 1420 01:13:47.901 --> 01:13:49.200 -All right. All right. 1421 01:13:49.200 --> 01:13:51.567 Thank you very much. I don't believe there are 1422 01:13:51.567 --> 01:13:54.300 any other briefings scheduled for today. 1423 01:13:54.300 --> 01:13:56.133 We're looking forward to launch tomorrow night. 1424 01:13:56.133 --> 01:13:57.634 We'll see you then. 1425 01:13:57.634 --> 01:13:57.634