Last piece of Hubble replacement hardware arrives at Kennedy Space Center
Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 10:13 UTC
The spare Science Instrument /Command and Data Handling (SI/C&DH) module, slated for installation on the Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May, arrived safely at Kennedy Space Center on March 30 aboard a specially outfitted truck.
Over the next few weeks, Hubble engineers will check out the new payload before integrating it onto the Multi-Use Logistics Equipment (MULE) Carrier. Astronauts will install the replacement SI/C&DH during their 11-day mission to Hubble aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which is currently scheduled to lift off May 12.
The SI/C&DH works with Hubble’s Data Management Unit (DMU) to send instructions to Hubble’s science instruments, and to process and format science and engineering data from the science instruments for temporary storage on the telescope’s digital recorders for subsequent transmission to the ground.
Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attach straps from a crane in order to lift the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH.
| Source: NASA | |
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