WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Members of the STS-103 crew, with representatives from Goddard Space Flight Center, look over the Hubble servicing cargo in the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery at Launch Pad 39B. From left are Mission Specialist Steven L. Smith and Claude Nicollier of Switzerland; Steve Pataki and Dave Southwick, with Goddard; and Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr. Inspecting the payload is part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), which also provides the crew with emergency egress training and a simulated countdown exercise. Other crew members taking part in the TCDT are Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), and Jean-François Clervoy of France. Clervoy and Nicollier are with the European Space Agency. STS-103 is a "call-up" mission due to the need to replace and repair portions of the Hubble Space Telescope, including the gyroscopes that allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will be replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor, an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. Four EVA's are planned to make the necessary repairs and replacements on the telescope. The mission is targeted for launch Dec. 6 at 2:37 a.m. EST