The overall risk was reduced accordingly. But radar tracking shows debris from the Cosmos matches theĬomputer model's prediction. Out, the amount of wreckage from the Iridium satellite was, in fact, roughly twice Including launch, orbital operations, re-entry and landing, are around 1-in-80.Īnalysts took a conservative approach to the February satellite collisions,įactoring in twice the amount of debris predicted by computer models. Where we were last week, at 1-in-185, to 1-in-221 as of today."įor perspective, the overall odds of a catastrophic failure from all sources, Those three things combined took the risk from The third thing was, we actually wereĪble to model HST in the payload bay and sometimes the HST actually provides a Periods of time where we're going to be in attitudes to protect Hubble from the sun,Īnd that was a factor in reducing that number. "Two, we got an attitude timeline update that had higher fidelity breakdowns of the
So that led to a reduction in the number. "One, they went backĪnd looked at the radar data and they took some more measurements and they found theĭebris environment isn't quite as severe. "The numbers changed recently from three factors," Stich said. Shield, the coolant loops in the shuttle's cargo bay door radiators and cockpit The crew's exposure to impacts that could damage critical areas of the ship's heat The planned orientation, or attitude timeline, reduces Recent radar observations and consideration of the shuttle's orientation in spaceĭuring the Hubble mission. Odds of a catastrophic impact during the Hubble mission are on the order ofġ-in-221, which is below the 1-in-200 threshold that requires an executive-levelĪ preliminary analysis put the odds at 1-in-185, but the numbers improved after Including the threat posed by debris from a satellite collision in February betweenĪ defunct Russian Cosmos satellite and an Iridium telephone relay station, the mean Know we're accepting a little higher risk for this flight. Project office at the Johnson Space Center, said in an interview. "It's not going to keep us on the ground," Steve Stich, manager of the orbiter To the International Space Station, which orbits at a lower, less debris-filledĪltitude, the actual numbers are better than flight planners initially expected. While the overall risk of impact damage is higher for a Hubble mission than a flight STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSIONĮven factoring in a recent satellite collision, an analysis of the threat posed by space debris at the Hubble Space Telescope's 350-mile-high altitude shows the crew of shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for launch May 12 on a mission to service the observatory, will not face a dramatically higher risk of potentially catastrophic damage, a NASA official said today.Īn artist's concept shows spacewalkers replacing one of Hubble's fine guidance sensors during the Atlantis mission. Improved odds ease NASA's concerns about space debris Meet the crew launching on Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope and learn how each became an astronaut in this special biography movie. Shuttle Atlantis makes the slow journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39A for the STS-125 mission to service Hubble. The new instruments to be installed into Hubble and the future science objectives for the observatory are previewed. The head of NASA's space shuttle program discusses the risks and plans for Atlantis' trek to Hubble.Īn overview of the Hubble Space Telescope program and the planning that has gone into the final servicing mission. The leaders of NASA's Space Operations and Science directorates give their insights into the upcoming shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The seven shuttle Atlantis astronauts hold a press conference one month before their planned launch to Hubble. The lead spacewalk officer provides indepth explanations of the five EVAs to service Hubble during Atlantis' flight. Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!Ī detailed step-by-step preview of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to extend the life and vision of the Hubble Space Telescope. Spaceflight Now | STS-125 Shuttle Report | Improved odds ease NASA's concerns about space debris