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 be also Columbia's final successful mission from start to finish.

1 Crew
2 Mission parameters
- 2.1 Spacewalks
3 Mission highlights
4 See also
5 External links

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Crew

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

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Mission parameters

Mass:
- Orbiter liftoff: 116,989 kg
- Orbiter landing: 100,564 kg
Perigee: 486 km
Apogee: 5780 km
Inclination: 28.5°
Period: 95.3 min

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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

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Mission highlights

Image:STS-109-HST-s109e5700.jpg 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 previous 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 Space Shuttle Columbia. Mission Specialist Nancy Currie operated the shuttle's robot arm. Commander Scott Altman was her backup. Pilot Duane Carey and Altman documented the EVA activities with video and still images.

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 the four shuttle missions to service Hubble (the others being STS-61, STS-82, and STS-103) for a total of 129 hours, 10 minutes by 14 different astronauts.

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