- Title: In Space-USA: Astronauts Work On Hubble Space Telescope
- Date: 15th February 1997
- Summary: Astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery have completed a third night of work on the Hubble space telescope, replacing three worn-out parts. Mark Lee and Steve Smith crawled through the shuttle Discovery's airlock hatch late on February 15 1997 night, as the shuttle orbited 360 miles above the west coast of Australia. They upgraded three more parts of the telescope during their seven-hour spacewalk, and completed what was believed to be the most difficult task of the mission, the replacement of a faulty electronics box. Replacing the data interface unit, which relays computer commands to the telescope components, was difficult because of the bulky space gloves the astronauts had to wear. Working in a jumble of wires, Lee had to make 18 cable connections to complete the installation. The two men then went on to exchange an ageing reel-to-reel tape recorder for a new digital model and replace a broken flywheel, used to manoeuvre the telescope. The two astronauts worked against a backdrop view of the earth as the shuttle soared more than 370 miles (595 km) above the Pacific, off the west coast of Australia.
- Embargoed:
- Keywords:
- Access Restrictions:This media cannot be downloaded as there may be copyright restrictions. Please contact us for more information
- Location: IN SPACE
- Reuters ID: LDL001267IFX3
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text:
- Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp