Feb 11 1997
From The Space Library
Shuttle Discovery, carrying a crew of seven astronauts, launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to service the HST. NASA planned the 10-day Shuttle Mission STS-82 to upgrade significantly the scientific capabilities of HST, as well as to perform standard maintenance on the US$2 billion instrument. The spaceflight was the second servicing mission for HST since its deployment in April 1990 aboard Shuttle Discovery's Mission STS-31. The astronauts planned to conduct at least four spacewalks to install new components, such as the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. A NASA scientist described the improvements as "replacing 1970's technology with 1990's technology." In addition to the work conducted on the HST, Discovery's crew planned to move the telescope a few miles farther into the atmosphere, improving its chances for a longer operating life. Astronomers hypothesized that the potential gains from refurbishing the HST outweighed the risks of tampering with its already spectacular abilities, justifying the US$800 million cost of the mission. The head of the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics speculated that the refurbished HST could lead to "a whole different kind of science.
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