Abstract
The Press release that contained this statement was issued by Rockwell International shortly before the STS-61 mission flew in December 1993, and it was no exaggeration. After all the hoop-la of getting the telescope authorized, funded, designed, built, tested, and launched, the discovery that its optics were flawed made what had been promoted as the “telescope of the century” appear to fail before it had even begun its examination of the universe. This was, to say the least, extremely embarrassing for NASA.
STS - 61 is the most extensive and perhaps the most difficult service mission NASA has ever attempted. Over 7 days of this 11 day flight, the astronauts will rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope; capture and berth the bus-size, 13 ton spacecraft in Endeavour’s cargo bay; and perform five spacewalks totaling more than 30 hours, more than on any previous mission, to repair and service the telescope so that it can continue its 15 year mission.
Rockwell International, December 1993
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shayler, D.J., Harland, D.M. (2016). Service Mission 1. In: The Hubble Space Telescope. Springer Praxis Books(). Praxis, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2827-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2827-9_8
Publisher Name: Praxis, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2826-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2827-9
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)