Servicing Mission 3B Timeline: Non-Interactive, Full Text

2002

Servicing Mission 3B

March 1-12, 2002

During SM3B, astronauts replaced Hubble's solar panels and installed the Advanced Camera for Surveys, which took the place of Hubble's Faint Object Camera, the telescope's last original instrument.

Servicing Mission 3B Patch

NASA

March 1, 2002 – Launch of Servicing Mission 3B

At 5:22 a.m. ET, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with seven astronauts aboard.

The space shuttle Columbia lifts off into a dark sky, illuminated by the flame pouring from its engine, which reflects as well off the clouds of billowing smoke surrounding it.

NASA

March 3, 2002 – Hubble Captured and Secured in the Cargo Bay

The crew used Columbia's robotic arm to gently dock Hubble in the shuttle’s cargo bay so that his crewmates could work on the telescope.

Hubble, on the end of the robotic arm after it was captured in space, is lowered onto its berthing hardware in the cargo bay, with a colorful section of earth below.

NASA

March 4, 2002 – First Spacewalk

Astronauts Rick Linnehan and John Grunsfeld conducted the mission's first spacewalk and replaced Hubble's starboard solar array.

An astronaut works on a flat, square-shaped device (a folded solar array) against the white cloudy background of Earth.

NASA

March 5, 2002 – Second Spacewalk

Astronauts James Newman and Michael Massimino finished installing new solar arrays on Hubble, which provided more power to the observatory. They also changed out one of Hubble's four Reaction Wheel Assemblies that use spin momentum to turn Hubble and keep it steady.

Two spacewalking astronauts, one standing attached to the space shuttle's robotic arm, work on the Hubble Space Telescope in the shuttle's cargo bay.

NASA

March 6, 2002 – Third Spacewalk

For the first time in Hubble's history, the telescope was completely powered down so that astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan could install a new Power Control Unit. This replacement PCU allows astronomers to take full advantage of extra power generated by the new solar arrays.

Two astronauts, one positioned on the space shuttle's robotic arm, work on the Hubble Space Telescope. One astronaut peers into an open door on the telescope. The telescope's solar array is clearly visible to the right.

NASA

March 7, 2002 – Fourth Spacewalk

On the fourth spacewalk of the mission, the Advanced Camera for Surveys was installed by astronauts James Newman and Michael Massimino. This powerful instrument has delivered spectacular images of the universe and is expected to generate more discoveries for years to come.

Hubble is framed by a blue and cloudy Earth as astronauts work on the telescope, one perched on the shuttle's robotic arm.

NASA

March 8, 2002 – Final Spacewalk

During the fifth and final spacewalk of the mission, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer was revived by astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan with their completion of the installation of an experimental cooling system. NICMOS remained operational until 2008.