1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,120
By the time the Hubble Space Telescope was 
nearing its 10th anniversary in space it had  

2
00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:11,520
already become the gold standard for modern day 
astronomy. Hubble had grown into an indispensable  

3
00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,916
tool used by scientists all around the globe to 
take an inside look into the universe around us.

4
00:00:17,916 --> 00:00:23,520
Everything was great, flawless even, until 
something unexpected started to creep its  

5
00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,153
way into the picture. 

6
00:00:26,153 --> 00:00:31,200
"In the last month, namely 
in November 13th, the fourth of six gyros  

7
00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:37,477
that are on board Hubble failed, and that left only 
two operational gyros."

8
00:00:37,477 --> 00:00:39,611
Lights out. Hubble's gyros, 

9
00:00:39,611 --> 00:00:46,160
which are needed to accurately point the telescope,
were failing. What was nasa supposed to do?

10
00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:49,105
Cue servicing mission 3A. 

11
00:00:49,105 --> 00:01:01,280
[ RANDOM AUDIO ]

12
00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,120
By 1999, Hubble was about to make 
its mark in the 21st century.

13
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,880
And as that turn of the century neared, Hubble 
was also due for another servicing mission.

14
00:01:15,334 --> 00:01:19,920
Just like the previous two missions to Hubble 
servicing mission 3, planned for the year 2000,

15
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:26,240
was going to upgrade and refurbish the telescope.

16
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,920
However, without warning, Hubble's gyroscopes 
began to fail over a year before servicing  

17
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,534
mission astronauts were scheduled to launch.

18
00:01:34,534 --> 00:01:37,440
"The gyros of course are are required for the

19
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:44,320
science mission, they're required for the extremely 
accurate pointing. We've honed in onto a wire there  

20
00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:49,901
that is broken and we think that is the reason 
why the gyros have failed."

21
00:01:49,901 --> 00:01:53,455
So Hubble needed three gyroscopes to continue to do science

22
00:01:53,455 --> 00:01:57,520
and by April 20, 1999 that's all Hubble had.

23
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,640
Swiftly NASA declared a Hubble emergency and split 
the upcoming servicing mission into two parts.

24
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:10,080
Servicing mission 3A would mainly tackle the 
gyroscope failures and servicing mission 3B

25
00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,067
would encompass the rest of the maintenance 
that Hubble didn't need right away.

26
00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:20,160
It was now crunch time, not only did NASA have 
to prepare an extra shuttle mission, but the  

27
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,760
astronauts now had to go into overdrive to prepare 
for the upcoming mission now scheduled for October.

28
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:37,049
And then when everything seemed to be more under 
control news broke: the fourth gyro failed. 

29
00:02:37,049 --> 00:02:46,560
"Today it's sitting up there with itself in safe 
mode and that again shows how important the  

30
00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,513
serviceability is to this facility."

31
00:02:49,513 --> 00:02:52,640
Hubble was now 
in safe mode which meant that the telescope's eyes  

32
00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:59,271
were temporarily closed to science. The servicing 
mission was more critical than ever before.

33
00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:05,360
And after multiple maintenance and 
wiring checks delayed the shuttle launch  

34
00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:10,640
on December 19, 1999 the team of 
servicing mission 3A was finally  

35
00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:15,000
able to make their mark on history.

36
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,000
"And liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery  

37
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,600
on a mission to repair the Hubble space 
telescope as we venture into the 21st century!"

38
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,000
"Roger roll discovery!"  

39
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,240
"Houston is now 
controlling the roll maneuver is complete 

40
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:41,860
Discovery is now in a heads down position on 
course for a 28.5 degree 310 nautical mile orbit."

41
00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,720
Right away the team of seven astronauts went 
to work. This eight-day mission included three  

42
00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:02,880
spacewalks to Hubble, the first of 
which replaced all of the gyroscopes. 

43
00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,760
Now Hubble was able to be accurately positioned 
and stay locked on to its celestial targets. 

44
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,040
Not only that, the team behind servicing mission 
3A refurbished Hubble's fine guidance sensor  

45
00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,800
for even greater precision 
in pointing the telescope, 

46
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:24,800
fixed damaged thermal blankets that protect 
the electronics housed inside of Hubble,

47
00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:31,440
installed a new computer 20 times faster than 
Hubble's original computer, replaced old tape  

48
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:38,701
recorders with a new solid state recorder for a 
greater efficiency in Hubble's data management,

49
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:44,400
and fixed the spacecraft's S-Band transmitter 
to continue to relay data to the scientists on  

50
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:52,640
the ground. and on Christmas day 1999 Hubble was 
released back into the stars ready to uncover  

51
00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:59,280
new discoveries that lie ahead. Servicing 
Mission 3A proved that NASA could not  

52
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,920
only be quick on its feet in dire 
circumstances, but perform as a team  

53
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,840
that is united around keeping our eyes 
open to the universe for many years to come.

54
00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:30,163
[ INSPIRING MUSIC ]