yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (10/25/88)
Charles Redmond
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. October 25, 1988
Barbara Selby
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
RELEASE: 88-143
EARLIER LAUNCH DATE SET FOR NASA HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
NASA announced today that it is rescheduling the launch of
the Hubble Space Telescope from February 1990 to an earlier date
of December 1989. The earlier date was made possible following
reassessment of a variety of factors including payload
requirements and Space Shuttle orbiter assignments during the
period. The Hubble Space Telescope is a cooperative project with
the European Space Agency.
The telescope, which fills the orbiter cargo bay, will be
deployed by the Shuttle crew with the aid of the orbiter remote
manipulator system.
The Hubble telescope is the first spacecraft designed for
routine on-orbit servicing by the Space Shuttle crew. In the
mid-1990's, a Shuttle crew is expected to revisit the telescope
to replace onboard scientific instruments with new instruments
incorporating advanced technology now under development.
The Astrophysics Division of the Office of Space Science and
Applications, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., and the
project management center, Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Ala., will establish a new shipping schedule for the
Hubble spacecraft, presently at the Lockheed Missiles and Space
Co. facility, Sunnyvale, Calif. The schedule for a final ground
systems test involving the Hubble spacecraft also may be
affected.