STS-82 Day 4 Highlights

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On Friday, February 14, 1997, 6:00 a.m. CST, STS-82 MCC Status Report # 7 reports:

Astronauts Mark Lee and Steve Smith worked throughout the night in the cargo bay of the Shuttle Discovery, conducting a spacewalk lasting six hours and 42 minutes to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, which now contains new science instruments for an expanded view of the universe.

The first spacewalk of the second servicing mission of the Telescope began at 10:34 p.m. Central time Thursday night when Lee and Smith switched their spacesuits over to battery power. The spacewalk was slightly delayed to enable ground controllers to assess the unexpected movement of one of Hubble's solar arrays, which slewed from a horizontal to a vertical position as Discovery's airlock was depressurized. The motion was created by an apparent gust of air from the airlock, but caused no damage to the array which was repositioned horizontally.

Once outside, Lee and Smith went right to work, opening the aft shroud doors on Hubble to remove the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph and the Faint Object Spectrograph. The telephone-booth sized instruments slid out of their compartments and were replaced by two brand new instruments, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. STIS was installed in Hubble shortly before 1 a.m. Central time, followed almost two hours later by the NICMOS. Payload controllers send commands to check the health of the two instruments, which were declared alive and well and ready for calibration over the next several weeks. The aft shroud doors were finally closed as Lee and Smith stowed the old science gear in protective containers for the trip back to Earth. With their work successfully completed, Lee and Smith returned to Discovery's airlock at 5:17 this morning to wrap up the first of four planned excursions into the Shuttle's cargo bay.

The two new instruments will increase Hubble's scientific capabilities. The STIS will take light gathered by the telescope and separate it into spectral components so that the composition, temperature, motion, and other chemical and physical properties of astronomical objects can be measured. NICMOS will allow Hubble to take infrared observations of the universe, giving astronomers the capability to view cosmic objects in non-visible light.

Discovery's crew will begin an 8 hour sleep period at 9:25 a.m. CST this morning before being awakened at 5:25 p.m. Upcoming on Flight Day 5 will be the second spacewalk of the mission by astronauts Greg Harbaugh and Joe Tanner who will replace several engineering components in Hubble.

Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope continue to orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 370 statute miles with all of the Shuttle's systems still operating in excellent condition.

On Friday, February 14, 1997, 5:30 p.m. CST, STS-82 MCC Status Report # 8 reports:

Astronauts Greg Harbaugh and Joe Tanner will have their chance to venture into Discovery's payload bay this evening when they perform a spacewalk to replace several engineering components in the Hubble Space Telescope.

Harbaugh and Tanner are scheduled to change out a malfunctioning Fine Guidance Sensor and an Engineering/Science Tape Recorder. The FGS is able to accurately point the telescope to its targets and is capable of measuring the motion of stars with great accuracy. The astronauts also will install an Optics Control Electronics Enhancement Kit which will further increase the capability of the FGS.

For most of the spacewalk, Tanner, wearing a spacesuit with diagonal red markings around the legs, will be riding on the end of the robot arm. Harbaugh, wearing a suit with broken red lines around the legs and arms, will be able to move more freely around the payload bay. The six-hour spacewalk is scheduled to begin between 9:30-10:30 p.m. CST.

Also today, engineers successfully performed the verification tests for the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. STIS and NICMOS were installed early this morning by astronauts Mark Lee and Steve Smith.

Discovery's crew received a Valentines Day greeting from their wives at 5:25 p.m. today in form of the wake-up song."Higher Love" by Steve Winwood. Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope continue to orbit the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 370 statute miles with all of the Shuttle's systems still operating in excellent condition.

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