Two decades earlier, the Hubble Space telescope was deployed into the orbit by the Space shuttle Discovery. The launch of discovery spacecraft was made from the Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Steven Hawley is one among the five astronauts of this space mission. He told the Eric Berger about his space mission at the University of Kansas.
Q: How technically challenging was the Hubble launch?
A: Some technical aspects were present in this mission. The altitude was difficult. For deployment of Hubble telescope, we required low altitude. We flew the spacecraft at higher altitude. When we reached the desired altitude level, we released the telescope from the space shuttle. Hence it was put into the orbit. The newly placed telescope will have 3 years life span. After the completion of this period, we need another space mission for servicing the telescope in the orbit. If you release the telescope below the desired altitude level, orbital drag would place it at lower orbit more rapidly. In that case, we would have required frequent servicing missions. This might have completely demolished the significance of this mission.
Q: When this mission was being carried out, did you think this launch was going to revolutionize astronomy, or it was just another instrument?
A: I was obviously thinking that, this mission was going to be most amazing astronomical event. I also was thinking about all the individuals, who were associated in making of the Hubble telescope.
Q: Did you wanted to be sure that you did not mess up all careers of this space mission.
A: Yes I wanted that for all the people associated with the development of this telescope and the commitment, we had with this mission. We obviously wanted things not be messed up.
Q: Did you anticipate the mirror problem on orbit or it cropped up later?
A: It cropped up after one month of deployment of Hubble telescope into the space. We discovered this problem, when we were conducting start up tests and trying to refine the focus.
Q: What was your reaction when you heard about this problem?
A: It was not good event. It was unclear, what reasons has caused creation of this problem. Probably it may be due to compromise with the actual performance objectives of the Hubble telescope. In summary, if the mirror problem was not fixed, still the telescope would have excellent sensitivity and resolution. With bad mirror, you could not get sensitivity and resolution with accurate precision. I think that nobody would have looked into this aspect.
Q: Are you surprised on the better functioning of the telescope even after 20 years?
A: I am not totally surprised. The Hubble launch and thereafter, periodic service missions has ensured that the telescope is able to perform with its actual level. We also added new sophisticated technology with every servicing of the telescope. However, I did not know how effective these new technologies would be. Probably, the instruments we added into the telescope during this period, is performing better than my anticipation. So we are getting better results from the telescope.
Q: How technically challenging was the Hubble launch?
A: Some technical aspects were present in this mission. The altitude was difficult. For deployment of Hubble telescope, we required low altitude. We flew the spacecraft at higher altitude. When we reached the desired altitude level, we released the telescope from the space shuttle. Hence it was put into the orbit. The newly placed telescope will have 3 years life span. After the completion of this period, we need another space mission for servicing the telescope in the orbit. If you release the telescope below the desired altitude level, orbital drag would place it at lower orbit more rapidly. In that case, we would have required frequent servicing missions. This might have completely demolished the significance of this mission.
Q: When this mission was being carried out, did you think this launch was going to revolutionize astronomy, or it was just another instrument?
A: I was obviously thinking that, this mission was going to be most amazing astronomical event. I also was thinking about all the individuals, who were associated in making of the Hubble telescope.
Q: Did you wanted to be sure that you did not mess up all careers of this space mission.
A: Yes I wanted that for all the people associated with the development of this telescope and the commitment, we had with this mission. We obviously wanted things not be messed up.
Q: Did you anticipate the mirror problem on orbit or it cropped up later?
A: It cropped up after one month of deployment of Hubble telescope into the space. We discovered this problem, when we were conducting start up tests and trying to refine the focus.
Q: What was your reaction when you heard about this problem?
A: It was not good event. It was unclear, what reasons has caused creation of this problem. Probably it may be due to compromise with the actual performance objectives of the Hubble telescope. In summary, if the mirror problem was not fixed, still the telescope would have excellent sensitivity and resolution. With bad mirror, you could not get sensitivity and resolution with accurate precision. I think that nobody would have looked into this aspect.
Q: Are you surprised on the better functioning of the telescope even after 20 years?
A: I am not totally surprised. The Hubble launch and thereafter, periodic service missions has ensured that the telescope is able to perform with its actual level. We also added new sophisticated technology with every servicing of the telescope. However, I did not know how effective these new technologies would be. Probably, the instruments we added into the telescope during this period, is performing better than my anticipation. So we are getting better results from the telescope.
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