Florida Institute of Technology Physics & Space Sciences Dept. Alumni Reunion 11 October 2008

Hubble servicing and science with ACS

Max Mutchler (M.S. 1990)Research and Instrument ScientistSpace Telescope Science InstituteBaltimore, Maryland

Hubble launchApril 1990

Max on campus1988-1990

Hubble was deployed by the Space Shuttle, and serviced by astronauts 4 times

199019931997199920022009 – SM4 is the 5th servicing mission

5 days of spacewalking!

• Install 2 new instruments: Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)

• Repair 2 old instruments: Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)

• Pointing upgrade: replace all 6 gyroscopes and 1 of 3 Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS)

• Replace all 6 batteries (operating since launch in 1990)• Install 3 New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBLs): insulation to maintain

operating temperature• Install Soft Capture System or “grapple” for later de-orbit• In case that wasn’t enough: replace the data formatter, which failed on

Sep 27, just 2 weeks before the planned launch (whew!)

“Standard” Hubble servicing: installing entire new instruments

Astronauts practicing the WFC3 installation in the neutral buoyancy tank

“Non-Standard” Hubble servicing: power tools in cramped spaces!

Astronauts practicing the ACS electronics repair in the neutral buoyancy tank

Science projects with ACS

ACS mosaic of the Whirlpool Galaxy M51

Raw data becoming a color image

Dark Energy?

http://heritage.stsci.edu/

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Launch ~2013

Hubble servicing and science with ACS

Abstract: The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched into orbit in 1990, and it has been serviced by Space Shuttle astronauts 4 times since then. We are preparing for a 5th and final servicing mission now. I work with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was installed in 2002 and quickly became Hubble's workhorse camera. But ACS blew a fuse in 2007, and so a daring attempt to replace its electronics is included in the upcoming servicing mission. I will describe the Hubble servicing mission, with an emphasis on the ACS repair and some of the science projects I have done with ACS.

Bio: I was hired at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in April of 1990: just 2 weeks before the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, and 2 months before completing my M.S. in Space Sciences at FIT. So in addition to a front-row seat for the Hubble launch at the Kennedy Space Center, I have been present for the lowest and highest points in this rollercoaster historic mission. I am currently a Research and Instrument Scientist working primarily on Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, and also a member of the Hubble Heritage team, which has produced most of the iconic images you have seen from Hubble. As Hubble's tour-de-force approaches an end, we look forward to operating the James Webb Space Telescope at STScI.

- Max Mutchler, 11 October 2008