Servicing Mission 2 Timeline: Non-Interactive, Full Text

1997

Servicing Mission 2

February 11-21, 1997

The second servicing mission extended the range of wavelengths Hubble can see with the installation of two new instruments and increased the observatory's efficiency and performance.

Servicing Mission 2 Patch

NASA

February 11, 1997 – Launch of Servicing Mission 2

At 3:35 a.m. ET, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the second Hubble servicing mission.

Seen mostly in shadow with engines blazing, Discovery rises into the dark sky.

NASA

February 13, 1997 – Hubble Captured and Secured in the Cargo Bay

The crew used Discovery's robotic arm to gently dock Hubble in the shuttle’s cargo bay.

The blue edge of Earth forms a backdrop for a backlit Hubble in Discovery's cargo bay.

NASA

February 14, 1997 – First Spacewalk

Astronauts Mark Lee and Steven Smith embarked on the first spacewalk to service Hubble. They removed two scientific instruments (the Goddard High Resolution Spectograph and Faint Object Spectograph) and replaced them with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer.

One astronaut perches on the robotic arm and another is only partially visible inside a dark open door on the Hubble Space Telescope. Both astronauts are seen from behind, with Hubble looming before them.

NASA

February 15, 1997 – Second Spacewalk

Astronauts Gregory Harbaugh and Joseph Tanner began the second spacewalk of the mission. They replaced a degraded Fine Guidance Sensor and a failed Engineering and Science Tape Recorder with new spares, and also installed a new unit called the Optical Control Electronics Enhancement Kit, which further increased the capability of the Fine Guidance Sensor to provide pointing information for the spacecraft and as a scientific instrument for astrometric science.

Two astronauts work on removing a fine guidance sensor from a carrier in the Shuttle's cargo bay.

NASA

February 16, 1997 – Third Spacewalk

Astronauts Mark Lee and Steven Smith started the third spacewalk. They removed and replaced a Data Interface Unit on Hubble, as well as replaced an old reel-to-reel style Engineering and Science Tape Recorder with a new digital Solid State Recorder that allowed simultaneous recording and playback of data. In addition, they changed out one of four Reaction Wheel Assembly units that use spin momentum to move the telescope toward a target and maintain it in a stable position.

Two astronauts work on Hubble in the space shuttle's cargo bay.

NASA

February 17, 1997 – Fourth Spacewalk

Astronauts Gregory Harbaugh and Joseph Tanner embarked on the fourth spacewalk of the mission. They replaced a Solar Array Drive Electronics package, which controls the positioning of Hubble's solar arrays, and also replaced covers over Hubble's magnetometers. In addition, new thermal blankets were installed over two areas of degraded insulation around the light shield portion of the telescope.

Two astronauts work on Hubble. The solar arrays are prominently visible. One astronaut is perched on the robotic arm.

NASA

February 18, 1997 – Final Spacewalk

Astronauts Mark Lee and Steven Smith completed the fifth and final spacewalk of the second servicing mission. They attached several thermal insulation blankets to the telescope on areas which contain key data processing, electronics, and scientific instrument telemetry packages.

Two astronauts work on the Hubble telescope. One grips onto the telescope and the other is standing on the robotic arm.

NASA

February 21, 1997 – Servicing Mission 2 Comes to a Close

The Hubble Space Telescope's second servicing mission comes to an end. Hubble returned to its orbit as an improved observatory, and the Space Shuttle Discovery safely landed back at Kennedy Space Center.