WIDE ANGLE: Extreme Tools to Fix the Hubble Space Telescope

By Tracy Staedter

Climbing to the top of Mount Everest requires advanced gear and equipment that can withstand the extreme conditions of high-altitude and freezing temperatures. But no place is more extreme than space. And for that environment, engineers must build tools that hold up to high and low temperatures, work without gravity, and even function underwater, where spacewalk training often occurs.

"We also build the tools to have unique ergonomic features such as large handles and knobs and triggers with light spring force to reduce the fatigue to the astronauts doing the work in pressurized gloves," said Jill McGuire, HST Crew Aids and Tools Manager.

For the current servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA and Goddard Space Center engineers built and processed 180 tools, 114 of which were designed specifically for the mission. According to Michael Weiss, HST deputy program manager, the flight will carry 23,000 pounds of hardware.

The astronauts are charged with installing two new science instruments: the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, which will be able to observe deeper across the universe than any other instrument before it; and the Wide Field Camera 3, which is an imager capable of looking farther back in time than any other camera on Hubble before.

They will also attempt repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, replace all of the gyroscopes, install a refurbished fine guidance sensor, replace all of the batteries, plus a few other tasks.

It's a huge job that the crew has trained for several training times, two to three years prior to the mission. Here are some of the extreme tools they'll be using to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.

Next »11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21« Previous

Get More of the Wide Angle

This year, Discovery Channel crew members are back on Mount Everest, filming Everest Beyond the Limits. And although it takes talent, training, courage and will to make it to the top, we here at Discovery Tech know that it also takes a fair amount of gear and gadgets to get the job done right and safely. So with this week's Wide Angle, we're exploring the Tech Face of Everest.