yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (12/21/89)
George H. Diller
KSC Release No. 135-89 Dec. 20, 1989
WIDE-FIELD PLANETARY CAMERA TO BE INSTALLED ON SPACE TELESCOPE
A significant event in the preparation of the Hubble Space
Telescope for launch next spring occurs today, Wednesday, Dec. 20
in the Vertical Processing Facility at KSC. The Wide-Field
Planetary Camera (WFPC) is under installation and is being
readied for upcoming checkout activity.
This is one of two cameras aboard HST. Unlike the Faint
Object Camera, the Wide Field Planetary Camera will photograph
brighter objects of larger area. It can be used to photograph
the face of a planet in our solar system or hundreds of galaxies
at once.
The installation is being performed by the HST payload test
team from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed,
Perkin Elmer, and McDonnell Douglas.
The WFPC arrived at KSC on Dec. 6 from JPL. It was
delivered to NASA's Hangar S on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
for receiving inspection and its initial checks. The camera
weighs 600 pounds, and its dimensions are 7 1/2 feet long, 6 feet
wide, and 2 1/2 feet high. After the installation on the
telescope in the Vertical Processing Facility, a series of
functional tests are required.
Meanwhile, the latest in a series of prelaunch functional
tests on the Hubble Space Telescope was completed on Dec. 8.
Since testing began on Oct. 27, there have been no significant
problems with the telescope itself, and only minor problems with
associated test equipment. Testing is performed via satellite
from the Lockheed Sunnyvale facility, and from the HST Payload
Operations Control Center located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md.
During the tests, the telescope and the onboard science
instruments are operated as they are on-orbit. Test controllers
gain actual operating experience on HST before launch, and also
have an opportunity to de-bug or refine their software programs.
In addition, controllers learn to recognize certain unique
operating characteristics or "signatures" of the telescope and
its science instruments.
The latest test series demonstrated, among other things, the
effectiveness of the fault protection system. The telescope has
the ability to recognize a significant problem, safe itself by
going on stand-by, then signaling controllers and awaiting help
from the ground.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been powered down for the
holidays and functional testing will be resumed in January.
Also scheduled to occur after the first of the year is the
verification testing for electrical compatability with the Space
Shuttle and associated deployment hardware. Called "CITE
Testing," which stands for Cargo Integrated Test Equipment,
these are routine tests for payloads flown on the Space Shuttle
and take about four days.
Based on the current manifest, the Hubble Space Telescope is
scheduled to be transported to Pad B on Launch Complex 39 on
March 9, 1990, placed in the payload bay of Discovery on March
12, and launched no earlier than March 26.