STS-109

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STS-109 was the most recent NASA Space Shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Flown aboard Columbia in March 2002, the five spacewalks to replace and install equipment were a complete success. It would also be Columbia's final successful mission from start to finish.

Crew

Scott D. Altman (3), Commander
Duane G. Carey (1), Pilot
John M. Grunsfeld (4), Mission Specialist 1
Nancy J. Currie (4), Mission Specialist 2
James H. Newman (4), Mission Specialist 4
Richard M. Linnehan (3), Mission Specialist 3
Michael J. Massimino (1), Mission Specialist 5

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

Mission parameters

Mass:

Orbiter liftoff: 116,989 kg
Orbiter landing: 100,564 kg

Perigee: 486 km
Apogee: 578 km
Inclination: 28.5°
Period: 95.3 min

Spacewalks

No.	Spacecraft	Spacewalker	Start - UTC	End - UTC	Duration	Comments
213.	STS-109 - EVA 1	Grunsfeld & Richard Linnehan	March 4, 2002, 06:37	March 4, 2002, 13:38	7 h, 01 min	Replace starboard solar array
214.	STS-109 - EVA 2	Newman & Michael Massimino	March 5, 2002, 06:40	March 5, 2002, 13:56	7 h, 16 min	Replace port solar array and Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA)
215.	STS-109 - EVA 3	Grunsfeld & Linnehan	March 6, 2002, 08:28	March 6, 2002, 15:16	6 h, 48 min	Replace Power Control Unit (PCU)
216.	STS-109 - EVA 4	Newman & Massimino	March 7, 2002, 09:00	March 7, 2002, 16:30	7 h, 30 min	Replace Faint Object Camera with a new Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)
217.	STS-109 - EVA 5	Grunsfeld & Linnehan	March 8, 2002, 08:46	March 8, 2002, 16:06	7 h, 20 min	Replace Cryocooler for NICMOS

Mission highlights

The purpose of STS-109 was to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). It was Columbia's first flight following an extensive two and a half year modification period (its most recent mission being STS-93). During the mission they installed a new science instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), new rigid Solar Arrays (SA3), new Power Control Unit (PCU) and a new Cryocooler for the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). STS-109 also reboosted HST to a higher orbit.

The STS-109 astronauts performed a total of five spacewalks in five consecutive days to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. The spacewalkers received assistance from their crewmates inside Columbia. Currie operated the Shuttle's robot arm while Altman was her backup. Carey and Altman documented the EVA activities with video and still images that had silly parts. The video was shown on NASA TV.

Accomplishments of the spacewalks included the installation of new solar arrays, a new camera, a new Power Control Unit, a Reaction Wheel Assembly and an experimental cooling system for the NICMOS unit. STS-109 accumulated a total of 35 hours, 55 minutes of EVA time. Following STS-109, a total of 18 spacewalks had been conducted during four Space Shuttle missions to service Hubble (the others being STS-61, STS-82, STS-103 and STS-125) for a total of 129 hours, 10 minutes by 14 different astronauts.

It was also the last successful flight of the Columbia orbiter, as on its next mission, STS-107, it disintegrated on re-entry, killing all on board.

STS-109 is considered a night launch, as sunrise was at 6:47 AM, and Columbia launched at 6:22 AM EST, 25 minutes before sunrise.

External links

Status reports - Detailed NASA status reports for each day of the mission.
NASA mission summary
STS-109 reentry pictures
ESA/Hubble mission summary
STS-109 Video Highlights