Handprints on Hubble: The Untold Story of Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope

Kathryn D. Sullivan, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)

Thursday, June 15, 2017 4:00 pm EDT

Director's Conference Room
National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
 

The existing literature on the history of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) overlooks a vital chapter in the story:  How the basic concept of servicing an orbiting telescope was translated into the necessary tools, supporting equipment and procedures.  The idea of servicing an orbiting telescope arises at a time when NASA’s Extravehicular Activity (EVA) experience base was both meagre and worrisome.  Some preliminary water tank simulations were done as early as 1978, but serious attention was not given to the EVA challenge until the mid-1980s.  With a focus on 1984-1990, this project tells the story of the NASA/contractor team that turned HST servicing from concept to reality and examines how this shaped subsequent NASA human spaceflight activities. 
 
For further information, please contact: Tom Lassman at 202-633-2419; lassmant@si.edu.
 
NON-SMITHSONIAN VISITORS MUST RSVP NO LATER THAN 48 HOURS BEFORE THE SEMINAR. On the day of the seminar, please report to the South Security Desk at the Museum’s Independence Avenue entrance. Those holding SI ID badges may proceed directly to the Director’s Conference Room on the 3rd floor.