Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Sept 14, 2006 20:12:53 GMT -6
New Hubble Space Telescope Hardware Damaged On The Ground
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
According to NASA sources, last Thursday, an I-bolt supporting a lifting rig failed while off-loading the Wide-field Scientific Instrument Protective Enclosure (WSIPE) dropping the rig onto the WSIPE.
The WSIPE is the flight hardware enclosure for the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC-3) which is scheduled for installation on the Hubble Space Telescope during a possible Space Shuttle mission in 2007.
A Mishap Investigation Board has been assembled and has begun to investigate what happened. No one was hurt during this incident.
While NASA has not formally approved a shuttle mission to visit Hubble, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin told NASA employees at GSFC on Tuesday that he'd be making a decision no later than 1 November 2006.
Source: www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1154
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Priority is to repair the Hubble before we lose it or the final flight of the Shuttle.