Utah scientists follow Hubble repairs

Throughout Utah, astronomy scientists and enthusiasts alike are watching a team of brave astronauts repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

The aging instrument, launched in 1990, is undergoing its last repairs. Hubble's orbit 350 miles above Earth is different from and higher than that of the International Space Station, preventing the crew from taking shelter in the station if something were to go wrong with Space Shuttle Atlantis, which carried them to the telescope. Instead, the shuttle Endeavour is fueled and standing by at Cape Canaveral to rescue them if needed.

Space debris poses more hazard than usual. The higher the orbit, the more danger of a strike from litter such as pieces of destroyed satellites.

However, NASA decided on one final fix-it flight to Hubble because of its value to science.

"Oh, it's critically important for astronomy," said Denise Stephens, assistant professor in Brigham Young University's Department of Physics and Astronomy, Provo. For three years she worked for the Space Telescope Science Institute, Hubble's headquarters in Baltimore. For astronomers, she added, the Hubble Space Telescope is "really a critical part of what we're able to do."

At 1.2 meters (nearly four feet) radius, the HST is "an incredibly small telescope for ground-based standards," she said. "Yet it's more powerful than the Keck telescope here on Earth," one of the largest in existence. The reason is that Hubble orbits high above the planet's obscuring and distorting atmosphere.

Until the James Webb Space Telescope launches, now scheduled for 2014, the Hubble is the best instrument humans have for understanding the cosmos. And with the upgrade, it will be even better, she sad.

On the first space walk Thursday, astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel managed to remove the aging Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and replace it with an improved version. A bit of space drama occurred when a bolt holding the earlier camera stuck in place, but eventually it worked loose.

The new camera will be able to photograph objects in "the ultraviolet, visible and infrared" light, according to Stephens. In addition, it will be more sensitive. "It'll register more photons. We'll be able to see fainter objects." These could include "very distant galaxies" and other objects that could help in the understanding of cosmology.

Elsewhere in Utah, others are fascinated by the repair project: