♪♪
-Good afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This is Space Shuttle Discovery's launch control.
The countdown for launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery
on STS-103 is continuing on schedule this afternoon.
Launch is scheduled to occur at 7:50 p.m. Eastern Time,
and the launch-opportunity window extends for 42 minutes.
The window closes at 8:32 p.m.
In order for us to make a launch attempt today,
mission managers conceded 2 days of the plan's
10-day mission of STS-103.
The last of the four EVAs scheduled for this mission
has been eliminated,
and the crew off-duty day has also been eliminated
since the mission will now only be 8 days long.
That puts a landing scheduled for Kennedy Space
Center on December 27th at about 5:24 p.m.
Eastern Time.
The shortened mission will allow for landing
and postlanding ground operations
to be conducted at Kennedy Space Center
or if necessary at Edwards Air Force
Base in California prior to the end of the year.
A primary objective of this flight
is to rendezvous with the Hubble Space
Telescope that was first placed into low Earth orbit aboard
Discovery in April of 1990,
and once we complete the rendezvous on Tuesday
and grapple the telescope with the orbiter's robotic arm,
the seven-member crew of Discovery
will spend the next 3 days in space
performing three EVAs, or space walks,
to replace the various parts
and get the telescope back into functional health,
and we have a live shot of our seven astronauts
as they're seated for their lunch before suiting up
and going out to the pad.
All astronauts have been awake
since several hours earlier this morning.
Claude Nicollier, from the European Space Agency,
was preparing for his fourth flight.
Michael Foale is preparing for his fifth flight.
Our pilot, first-time flier on the shuttle, Scott Kelly,
and commander of all, Curt Brown,
preparing for his sixth flight.
Rounding out the crew, again, there's seven crew members here,
Jean-François Clervoy as well as the other crew members:
Steve Smith and John Grunsfeld, whom we just saw.
All astronauts, of course, are well-prepared for this mission.
They've been training for most of this year for this flight.
They've actually been in town since about December the 6th,
but with a number of delays, they have had some opportunities
to, of course, fly on the shuttle-training aircraft
to go through their flight plans,
to make any additional changes
that they might feel are necessary to this mission now
that we've got 2 days less in the flight
than we had earlier planned,
but all are prepared for launch this afternoon with our time,
the opening of the window, 7:50 p.m.
Close-in now of the traditional cake
that is baked for the crew, indicating their crew patch.
This is Shuttle Launch Control with about 21 minutes
remaining in our built-in hold at T-minus 3 hours,
and we have live TV of our crew
as they are being suited up for their ride into space tonight.
Curt Brown, our commander,
preparing for his sixth space shuttle flight.
Scott Kelly, our pilot, who will be on his first flight.
Scott has a twin brother in the Astronaut Corps
as well, Mark.
They both joined the Corps back a couple of years ago.
John Grunsfeld has flown three times,
or this will be his third flight, actually,
and he will be one of our space walkers
on this mission for EVAs one and three.
Going over to the other side of the room, Steve Smith:
He is preparing for his third flight today as well.
Jean-François Clervoy from France,
one of the European Space Agency astronauts.
He's been on the shuttle twice.
He's preparing for his third flight today.
Claude Nicollier from Switzerland,
also of the European Space Agency:
Claude has flown three times before.
This will be his fourth flight into space.
Michael Foale, we all remember him
from his 4-month stay aboard
the Russian Space Station Mir back in '97.
Live shots of our astronauts now
as they come out of their crew quarters
on the third floor of the Operations
and Checkout Building, making their way to the elevator
that will carry them down to the ground floor
of the Operations and Checkout building,
and from there, they will enter the astronaut van
that will drive them out to Pad 39B.
Support personnel riding in the elevator with them.
And here they come, and with the launch tonight,
this will be the first shuttle crew
to spend Christmas in orbit, and on Christmas Day,
they will deploy the Hubble Space Telescope
after three space walks to get it back into functional health.
The crew is being led by Commander Curt Brown.
We have Scott Kelly as a pilot,
mission specialist Steve Smith, Jean-François Clervoy,
John Grunsfeld, Michael Foale and Claude Nicollier.
And we see crew members with our pad cameras
now walking toward the orbiter access arm
on the 195-foot level of the fixed service structure,
and they will soon begin entering the vehicle.
-CC, OVCC. -And we have our first view
today of the inside of the Shuttle Discovery
as commander Curt Brown is helped into his seat.
And we now have another picture of the mid-deck as...
-The CC... -...Nicollier finds his seat
on the starboard side of the vehicle.
-...onboard at this time.
-And a shot from a different angle
at this time of the crew compartment,
the forward crew compartment, on the flight deck.
This is a shot of Scott Kelly, our pilot, being suited up.
Commander Curt Brown is on the other side of him.
As you can see, bright sunlight
coming in through the orbiter's windows
is very indicative of the sunshine outside
and the fact that we have virtually cloudless skies.
-Launch Director, you have the MMT concurrence
and authorization to continue with launch.
-Okay, copy, CDR. -CR, go.
-Yeah, Curt, we appreciate your patience
in hanging in there with us.
The vehicle and team are ready to go.
We hope to have a great mission to Hubble,
and we'll see you back here before the next millennium.
-Okay. We copy that, and we know
it's been a little bit challenging over the past month
to get us ready to go,
but we knew we had the best processing
and the best launch team in the known universe behind us.
So we're honored to be part of that team,
and we have one request.
We'd like you to send a note to Hubble to get ready
because we're on our way.
-Okay, Curt. We appreciate that,
and we're looking forward to the next few days
to watch you do your magic, and NTD, launch director.
-Launch director, go ahead.
-Have a go to pick up the count at nine.
-Copy that.
-Standing by for orbiter access arm
to be retracted away from the vehicle.
This is the walkway used by the crew to gain entry
into and out of the vehicle.
It can be returned to position within seconds if necessary.
Three main engines are being gimbaled
as the final test before launch.
Everything continues to look good,
and we are cleared for launch tonight.
No problems are being reported from the vehicle
or from the crew.
-OTC, PLT, caution and warning, memory is cleared,
no unexpected errors.
-Copy.
Discovery, close and lock your visors
and initiate O2 flow.
Have a safe journey to Hubble and continue man's quest
to unveil the secrets of the universe.
We'll see you in 8 days.
-Discovery copies, advise there's O2.
-CLS is go for ET, LH2 pressurization.
-T-minus 15 seconds.
Twelve, 11, 10, nine, eight, seven.
We have a go for main engine start.
Four, three, two, one.
We have booster ignition and liftoff
of the Space Shuttle Discovery,
mission to prepare the Hubble Space Telescope
as we venture into the 21st century.
-Houston, Discovery. Roll program.
-Roger roll, Discovery.
-Houston is now controlling.
A roll maneuver is complete.
Discovery is now in a heads-down position,
on course for 28 1/2 degree, 310-nautical-mile orbit.
Discovery's three main engines
now are beginning to throttle down
to lessen the effects of the dense lower regions
of the atmosphere on the orbiter,
Discovery already traveling 700 miles per hour,
3 miles altitude, a little more than a mile
downrange from the Kennedy Space Center.
Now 1 minute into the flight,
the three main engines now beginning to throttle back up.
-Discovery, Houston, go at throttle up.
-Discovery copies.
Go at throttle up.
-Now 1 minute, 20 seconds into the flight,
Discovery already 10 miles in altitude
and downrange 7 miles from the launch site,
traveling 1,500 miles per hour,
all systems are looking good aboard Discovery,
three good electrical systems as fuel cells
and also the auxiliary power unit
is providing hydraulic power to the vehicle.
All three main engines still in excellent shape,
approaching 1 minute 40 seconds into the flight.
The next step is burnout and separation of the twin
Solid Rocket Boosters on the orbiter.
Discovery system now weighs half of what it did at liftoff,
having burned half its total weight in propellant.
-Discovery, Houston, two engine Ben.
-Discovery copies, two engine Benguerra.
-The SRB separation has been confirmed.
The crew has also been told that they can get
to the Benguerra Transatlantic Abort Site on two engines,
should one fail at this point, all systems in excellent shape
and all very quiet here at mission control,
three good main engines, three good hydraulic systems
and fuel cells aboard the orbiter.
Discovery's altitude is 40 miles,
downrange now from the Kennedy Space Center 55 miles.
Discovery is now traveling 3,500 miles per hour,
and we're back here in mission control in Houston,
capturing these live views from Discovery
as the payload bay doors are opened
as the vehicle completes its first orbit,
flying within range of the Merritt Island
Tracking Station in Florida.
♪♪
-♪ You get up every morning ♪
♪ From your alarm clock's warning ♪
♪ Take the 8:15 into the city ♪
♪ There's a whistle up above ♪
♪ And people pushin', people shovin' ♪
♪ And the girls who try to look pretty ♪
♪ And if your train's on time ♪
♪ You can get to work by 9:00 ♪
♪ And start your slaving job to get your pay ♪
♪ If you ever get annoyed ♪
♪ Look at me, I'm self-employed ♪
♪ I love to work at nothing all day ♪
♪ And I'll be taking care of business ♪
♪ Every day ♪
♪ Taking care of business ♪
♪ Every way ♪
♪ I've been taking care of business ♪
♪ It's all mine ♪
♪ Taking care of business and working overtime ♪
♪ Work out ♪
-Good morning, Discovery.
-Good morning, Houston.
Houston, Discovery for payloads.
We've completed step four now of SSE checkout,
and we're on to page 197, step five.
No anomalies to report.
-Thanks, Steve. We're with you.
And, Discovery, we've got a good end-effector camera view
down here.
-In this unique Vantage point, looking from the end-effector
camera on the shuttle's robotic arm,
looking straight down into the payload bay
down at the flight-support system.
Again, that will be the structure that will house
the Hubble Space Telescope
secured in the payload bay throughout the three space
walks that are scheduled for the flight.
Underway now now that the robotic arm
has been checked out
is the traditional payload bay survey using the robotic arm.
And next coming into view
is the orbital-replacement unit carrier,
the same carrier that's been used on
all of the Hubble servicing missions,
housing in various compartments and boxes,
the components that will be installed in the telescope.
These various containers and cannisters
will also house the components
that are removed from the telescope
to be returned to Earth.
Again, the entire structure is called
the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier,
and then each box within this carrier have specific names,
signifying which compartment houses,
which pieces of equipment
that will be installed in the telescope.
And now the robotic arm moving back across the top
of the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier.
First in view there in the center is the forward fixture,
which actually is the compartment
that's housing the new Fine Guidance Sensor
that will be installed on the second space walk.
-Well, thank you very much, Curt, and let me start off
by congratulating you on a beautiful launch yesterday.
A lot of us never thought you were going
to make it off the ground this year,
and I guess I was wondering what you thought your chances were,
and did you feel there was any undue rush there at the end
to beat what turned out to be a less-than-firm deadline?
-Well, Bill, I can't take any credit for that launch.
As you know, we do a lot of training
to make sure we can handle whatever happens,
but the credit for that beautiful launch
goes to the team down at Kennedy Space Center.
They have been working quite a few hours here lately
to get us off this year
and have us on this mission to come up, repair Hubble,
and so we're very proud of that team,
and we're just glad to be part of that team.
-But just to make sure I'm understanding,
you didn't feel there was any rush at all to get you off?
I mean, I'm taking it from your answer that you thought
that this was all done in an appropriate fashion.
-Well, Bill, there's kind of a joke
that you always like to have a shuttle mission ahead of you,
so you can train and always have something to look forward to,
but in our case, I think the vehicle was ready to go.
The weather was ready to go, and we were definitely ready to go,
and obviously, Hubble was up needing the servicing,
and so we're up here.
So if the vehicle is ready and the crew is ready,
I think the right thing to do is go launch.
-Well, launching when you do, of course,
means you've had to shorten your mission from 10 days to 8
and give up one of your planned space walks for Mike Foale.
I was wondering what your thoughts are about that
and how confident you are about restoring Hubble
to good health with three space walks.
-Well, I'm sure we can achieve all of the objectives
that were specified as necessary for 100 percent success,
and that's basically to replace the gyroscopes
that have failed on the telescope,
and also change out the computer and charging units
and the Fine Guidance Sensor.
Those are the critical elements
that have to be done for this flight,
and we'll achieve those actually in two EVAs,
and then we'll get some extra tasks done on the third one.
-Were you disappointed, Mike, yourself?
I guess you're one of the ones
that's going to lose an EVA after all that training.
I'm just wondering how frustrating that is.
-Well, they come.
They go, and you have to kind of roll with it.
Sometimes, things change, and you get more than you asked for.
Sometimes, you get less.
It's really something I try and look,
you know, in the big picture, down the road a bit,
there will be other flights, other chances.
Certainly, I would regret not getting as many EVAs as I could,
you know, being greedy as I am, but this is fine,
and I understand why the program made this decision.
-Curt, your crew is just the third in American history,
I guess, space history, to be in orbit over Christmas,
and the first in the history of the shuttle program,
and I know you guys are going to be busy on Christmas Day
redeploying the Hubble Space Telescope,
but I was wondering if you'll have any time
at all to teleconference with your families.
Do you have any decorations on board?
Is there a tree, perhaps?
-Well, Bill, we can't tell you all our secrets,
but we're looking forward to the deploy of Hubble,
and if we have a chance on Christmas Day
to say hello to our families,
we'll definitely take advantage of that.
-Did you guys get to finish your Christmas shopping,
or is there a way you're doing any Christmas
shopping online up there, I'm wondering?
-Well, we can't do any Christmas shopping online from here,
but we were able to take care of that, I think,
online during our 2 weeks being quarantined.
At least, I was able to do that. -Thanks a lot,
and the last question from my wife,
was wondering if you guys planned to leave any milk
and cookies out for Santa Claus this year?
-You know, before we flew this mission,
and there was a possibility of flying over Christmas,
I talked to my 5-year-old daughter about that
and explained to her how that could be a possibility,
and once I told her that we were going to point the telescope
at the North Pole and get a picture of Santa,
she was all excited and really didn't mind
too much her dad being away for Christmas.
-Okay, now, let me finish with one last one here real quick.
I know you guys always try to get done things
when you might not always have the time, like that fourth EVA.
I mean, for Mike Foale, I guess, any chance you can squeeze
in some of the tasks on that fourth
EVA on the three you've got?
I'm assuming there's no chance this mission
will get extended a day, Curt.
-Bill, as far as the question goes about
squeezing in the fourth EVA into the third,
no, I don't think there's any chance of that,
except maybe one small task involving latch doors
to be properly latched
that were not properly posed that need repair right now,
and we had planned that for the fourth day,
and we may be able to do that on the third day or the second day.
I'm going to let you have the answer from Curt
on the second part of your question.
-Well, Bill, as you know, we haven't been to Hubble
in a few years,
and we never know what we may find.
I'm sure if we found some need to do a fourth EVA
or make changes to our current
EVAs, the program would look at that,
and we'd come up with the right decision.
So our plan right now is to do the three EVAs,
and like I said, there's no better place to be than space,
so we're very happy up there.
-Commander Brown, what's your vision
of how space exploration will unfold in the future?
Will we colonize Mars?
Will space travel become common?
Are we alone in the universe?
-Well, I hate to quote a movie that came out not too long ago.
If we're the only ones in space, it's a terrible waste of space,
but I think there's going to be things out there
that we can hardly imagine,
and hopefully in the next years to come,
we will have a chance to go out and explore that.
We're taking very small steps now.
There's things we have to learn: how to do space exploration,
how to enable humans to go to other places.
The distances are long.
It's a long way to the nearest planet or star,
so we got to figure out ways to do that.
So we're taking small steps now, and just like a few years ago,
flying in an aircraft was kind of unheard of.
Pretty soon, flying in space will be common nature,
and I think that's where we're going to go.
-Jean-François Clervoy, as a member
of the European Space Agency, please tell us
about international cooperation in space.
Why are you flying on a NASA shuttle?
-NASA has opened its space program to cooperation
with many countries,
including the 14 countries of Europe,
starting with, in the early days on the space shuttle
with a space lab,
and Europe being one of the partners
for the completion of the International Space Station,
we are being part of the special programs since the beginning,
and I hope that Europe
will be also part of the international program
that NASA will probably push
in the next 20 years to go and explore Mars,
like we are starting now on the automatic probes to visit Mars.
-Michael Foale, you are a father.
As you look at Earth from space, what do you think about
the future for your children on this fragile planet?
-Well, I think the future for our children is boundless.
I think we can do terrible things.
I think we can do wonderful things as a race,
and I want my children and the children they come
in contact with to feel that they have great potential,
that they can make more of the future
than their parents have and their grandparents have.
I think part of that will be working in space.
I think exploring space and working with other countries
going to Earth orbit to build the International Space Station,
and then Moon and Mars and colonize the solar system
will be a huge endeavor
for many, many nations on the Earth,
and I think in the process of doing that,
our children will actually be far more tolerant
and able to work with each other,
even though they have differences,
between their different countries
than so far generations have shown up to this point.
-Mr. Kelly, Scott,
please describe your first feelings
of seeing Earth from space.
This is your first time up there.
Is the sunrise beautiful?
-Yeah, my first --
My feelings when I first saw the Earth from space
are really hard to describe
because the Earth really is so beautiful.
It is a crystal-clear brilliant blue
when you first see the Atlantic Ocean,
in our case and the sunrise following a night launch,
and it really is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.
It's something that I will never forget,
and it's something that I wish
everyone on Earth could experience,
and hopefully, one day, they will have that opportunity.
-Commander Brown, from your very special vantage point in space,
can you give us a message of hope and peace
for the new millennium?
-Well, as we've touched on in the last few questions,
the Earth is very beautiful.
The space program is going more towards an international style,
and we have many countries working together
for the international space station,
and as you look down on the planet,
and you realize all the people that are there
and all the countries that are around the planet,
and we do have conflicts these days,
and we do have countries that do not get along with each other
and people that do not get along with each other,
and my dream would be that that would all go away.
As you orbit the Earth, there's really no boundaries.
You see the landmass and the continents,
but you really don't see the people.
I imagine the people down below,
and you imagine them all getting along,
and it's so easy to see that from space,
how easy it would be and how fragile the Earth is
and because it's so fragile -- And actually, it's so small.
As we orbit it, it only takes 90 minutes
to go all the way around,
and as you see the delicate balance of what we have here
on planet Earth,
my wishes and my blessings are for the world to come together
and be a place where everyone would get along together,
and we'll all take care of our planet,
and we can all view and admire our planet.
♪♪
-♪ I had a dream our love would last forever ♪
♪ I had a dream tonight, my dream comes true ♪
♪ And if you'll hold me tight ♪
♪ We'll be riders, girl, on the night ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Rendezvous ♪
♪ I want a rendezvous ♪
♪ I want a rendez ♪
♪ I want a rendezvous ♪
♪♪
-Good morning, Discovery.
Hubble is about 278 miles ahead of you
and 13 miles above you.
-Houston, Discovery. Good morning.
You have seven people very anxious
to rendezvous with Hubble.
Tell them we're on our way.
-Discovery, we see a good config for the burn.
-Discovery copies. Thanks.
-This burn-up coming in 10 seconds
will use the left Orbital
Maneuvering System engine on the tail of the orbiter.
So hopefully with this view, we'll be able to see
that engine fire up here momentarily.
And the burn is in progress.
Again, it's a very short 17-second burn.
We saw the initial start-up of the engine,
and that engine now has cut off.
And this is Mission Control Houston,
this view from one of the forward bulkhead cameras
in the payload bay of Discovery,
looking at the Hubble Space Telescope,
52 miles out in front of the Discovery,
45 nautical miles, or about 277,000 feet.
-Houston, Discovery.
We have the Hubble Space Telescope
in sight through the glass.
-That's fantastic news.
-This is Mission Control Houston as the Hubble Space Telescope
flies high above the Earth's surface
out over the Atlantic Ocean,
again, just as it did about an hour and a half ago,
its orbital track taking it across the surface of the Moon.
The Moon will be full tomorrow night,
which also happens to be the winter solstice,
the point at which the Moon and the Sun
are at their closest points to the Earth's surface,
and due to that phenomenon, the Moon will actually appear
about 14 or so percent bigger than it does routinely,
and it will also appear much brighter
because of the Sun's proximity to the Earth
in relation to the Moon's proximity to the Earth as well.
And all is continuing to go very smoothly
and quietly here in mission control.
We are getting confirmation now that the robotic arm
is over the grapple fixture on the telescope,
and we do now have confirmation that the grapple is complete
with the rigidization
of the telescope's grapple fixture in work,
and capture now has been confirmed.
-Houston, Discovery. We have a good capture.
We have Hubble grappled.
-Discovery, congratulations.
Everyone here congratulates you
on your first-class job with a good grapple.
-And for the first time since February 1997,
the Hubble Space Telescope,
just as it was viewed when the shuttle left it 3 years ago.
-Discovery, Houston. For your information,
we just got KU coverage, and we have a good picture
of the Hubble on the end of the arm.
Beautiful sight.
-Thanks, Steve. Good news.
-And Discovery now moving into daylight,
giving a much better view of the telescope, again,
for the first time since February of 1997,
apparently no worse for the wear,
the telescope view coming from one of the cameras
at the back end of Discovery's payload bay.
-Houston, Discovery for HST.
Latch and made HST complete.
-We copy.
You're one big vehicle now, and I have a delta for the timeline.
-Again, recapping almost an hour,
exactly an hour after the telescope
was captured by the shuttle's robot arm,
the telescope was firmly berthed
and latched atop the flight-support system,
and then just moments ago, about 10 minutes ago,
the Hubble Space Telescope was verified on external power,
orbiter power, where it will remain
for the remainder of the stay in Discovery's payload bay.
In addition to payload bay cameras
on each corner of Discovery's payload bay,
there are also two cameras on the shuttle's robot arm,
one on the elbow joint,
and one out on the very tip of the arm,
the business end of the arm, the end effector,
which provides a very close-up view of the telescope
and its systems,
and as part of the post-berthing activities,
the robot arm will be used to provide the Hubble project
with some very detailed views of the telescope
up close and personal
since it has not been seen now for almost 3 years.
It allows the project to assess the health
of all of the external surfaces of the telescope.
That survey will be conducted
primarily by robotic-arm operator onboard,
Mission Specialist Jean-François Clervoy.
-Discovery, Houston.
From the Orbit One team, Linda and I
and the rest of the room would like to congratulate you
for a spectacular day making the hardest things look easy.
We were excited to be here the whole day,
and it's time to turn over to Ryan and Ellen,
the Orbit Two team.
As we looked at your video photos of the Moon,
we were reminded of 31 years ago today, Apollo 8 launched,
taking Frank Borman and Jim Lovell
and Bill Anders to the Moon.
-Houston, we copy that, and it was a beautiful sight today
as we got closer and closer to Hubble
and was able to accomplish the rendezvous
with the grapple and the berthing,
and we want to say special thanks to our training team
for making sure that we were able to do all that hard work
and to Steve Walker and the rendezvous team
for making sure we knew
exactly how we were going to find Hubble,
and as you know, it takes a team to make it work,
and without y'all today, we couldn't have made
all this work, and we appreciate that,
and I sure wish we were going to the Moon today.
-Good. Thanks for your words.
I know your training teams and all of us
are pretty proud to be all involved,
and we're pretty in awe of what you accomplished up there,
so we'll see you tomorrow.
♪♪
-And now we have our first views of Steve Smith...
...hanging on the end of the shuttle's robotic arm,
this view from one of the cameras
on the arm up on the elbow,
looking at this unique vantage point down into the payload bay.
-Okay, that's complete too.
EV cameras hooked up.
Billy Bob, you can take the arm to the airlock.
-Copy.
I'm moving the arm to the airlock in resting position.
-And, Steve, can you verify --
Can you take the sensor and do the 180?
-Yeah. Let me get the extension.
-And, Mike, I've got the thermal cover open.
-Okay. I am not pulling the arm yet.
-Thank you, Billy Bob.
-Okay, Mike, the gear is deployed.
I'm going to extend now.
-All right. I see that.
-All three knobs have been placed in the locked position.
-And the first full views now of John Grunsfeld
down near the external air lock...
-You can continue forward.
-...this looking straight down from the elbow camera up
on the shuttle's Remote Manipulator System,
or robotic arm.
-I see no peeling or flaking
or anything all the way up to the truncheon.
John, I think you're going to be okay to transition there.
Wait.
I'll check the other side, though.
-I am picking up a little bit of yellow pigment, again,
no flaking or anything.
-I copy.
-How's the [Indistinct] okay?
-Very minor ripples in the fabric and in the foil.
-Okay. Because I know the [Indistinct] is not in yet.
I'm seeing three handrails,
a little bit more like their original color.
I see no flaking or pitting or anything.
They look good.
That's a big telescope, boy.
-We copy you.
-Bays six through 10 look just like they did on 82.
You know, there's some blankets that we fixed
are still there, it looks like.
Mike, anything else up here for the back posts now?
-I copy, Steven.
We're waiting on the bag to inflate.
-Okay.
-Okay, we're now clear of Hubble.
-Yeah, I think you're clear to go up
and forward at the same time.
-Yep. -I concur.
-Okay, John, are you ready for the scope?
-Go ahead. -Okay.
Moving to the scope.
-Oh.
-I'm ready.
-Open it slowly. Make sure nothing flies out.
-Houston, Discovery. -Hey, guys.
-We have completed the pivot HST, to 90 degrees.
-The time is [Indistinct].
-Well, I think everything looks good inside the scope, Mike.
-Good to hear that, Steve.
-[ Speaks indistinctly ]
-This is Mission Control Houston, back aboard discovery
now with two astronauts well into the task
of replacing and changing out the Rate Sensor Units,
and this is an up-close-and-personal view,
looking over the shoulder of John Grunsfeld
into the aft shroud section of the telescope.
Steve Smith already tucked up inside,
turned around on his back.
That's the best position to remove
and replace the Rate Sensor Units.
-Don't go much farther, though. -Okay.
I won't. -Okay.
I can verify the back tether is on it.
I'm releasing my tether.
It's in the bag.
-Roger.
-Got some curveballs, some knuckleballs today.
-And, Houston, just to summarize,
we have the COPE pit closed with two latches
and RSU2 is stowed with a 1/4 inch to go in the front
and the ATM transport door not closed.
-It's incredibly tight.
-Can I tell my crew to come up?
-Tell your crew to come up. -Okay.
Am I good to go on the left?
-Yup.
-We could try it in the transform module next to it.
I guess that's an idea.
-That's what I think we might want to do.
-Engine can't stop [Indistinct].
-Let's do that. -Okay.
I will. -Okay.
Steve Smith confirming or commenting
that the old Rate Sensor Unit
has quite a tight fit putting it back into the cannister
for the return trip home,
but the outer lid to that cannister closes fine,
so for the time being,
the crew members have been given a go to press on
and change out the second of the three Rate Sensor Units.
In the meantime, the Hubble Project has confirmed
a good activation of the first installed Rate Sensor Unit.
-Sorry about the delay.
We concur with your plan to leave the COPE door
lid closed on the RS2, RSU2 as it is.
-Thanks.
-Okay. No more, right? Perfect.
Jean-François, can you take me to my right?
-Yeah, that's okay. -Okay.
Good. That's fine.
-Sure? -Yeah. Absolutely.
-Okay.
-What other connector do you need, Michael?
-MI Houston, Discovery.
Do we have a go for RSU3 connector D-mate?
-Discovery, you have a go for RSU3 connector D-mate.
-Copy. Steve, go ahead.
-Okay. -Jean-François, take me in.
-Moving in. -It'll be about 3 feet.
-About 3 feet in. -About 2 feet from your helmet.
-One foot. Looks like it's clear.
One foot. -Full stop.
-You're on, right?
Do an 11 count. -Correct.
-One, two,
three, four,
five, six,
seven, eight, nine,
10, 11.
-Full stop. Full stop.
We're done on the RS, RSU2.
-Did you say you're good on two? -Good on two.
Please transition to number three.
-Okay.
-Onboard, the crew members are taking closeout photos and video
of the work site before closing the aft shroud doors
that do provide back to the Hubble project
as a reference tool on the work that was accomplished inside.
Again, all three Rate Sensor Units have been removed
and replaced and checked out and activated,
and all appears at this point to be in good shape with Hubble
now essentially back in business with six new gyroscopes.
-Okay.
You are clear to turn around. -Okay.
Coming around.
Going to swing that right door towards me.
-I got the right door. See?
-All right.
-Astronauts Steve Smith and John Grunsfeld now,
Steve Smith on the left and John Grunsfeld on the right,
have now been through 5 hours,
17 1/2 minutes into the space walk.
The crew members now have completed the Nick Moss exercise
that is removing bayonet caps and opening valves
on the coolant end and the coolant outlines,
that to allow any residual coolant
that may be frozen in those lines
to dissipate in the vacuum of space,
and that task designed to prepare for the installation
of a new coolant system
for that Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer,
which was installed on the last servicing mission
in February of 1997.
-...we just have to get my feet and arms...
-That task now complete,
crew members are closing the aft shroud doors,
and once that's completed,
they'll move on to the next task, again,
which is to install those six Voltage/Temperature
Improvement Kits, basically voltage regulators,
to ensure that the Hubble's 10-year-old
batteries do not overheat.
The batteries are actually working fine, but as they age,
there is always a consideration of those batteries
overheating during the charge and discharge cycle,
and so these VIKs, as they're known by their acronym,
Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kits,
will be installed to ensure that the batteries do not overheat,
and mainly a precaution,
but one that the Hubble team would like done today,
if possible, before the crew members come back inside.
-Okay.
Moving up and over on the body deck forward.
It's better, Steve.
-Okay.
-Let me tell you what I've got:
3 o'clock into the bridge rail,
12 o'clock on the articulating socket...
...with a pitch, but that pin is in.
The clock near the PFR at six.
The roll is bravo point five,
and the pitch on the footplate is 10,
and I've got two green stripes on the bridge rail.
-Steve, the pitch should be 11 on the footplate.
-Okay. -I think 10 is better
for payload bay door clearance.
-Okay. We have a view of it now.
We'll record that and make sure Houston sees it.
-Okay.
Jean-François, can you take me 6 feet to my right, please?
-That's well within the, like...
-Discovery, Houston.
-Okay. Now get the big caddy.
-Discovery, Houston.
PTC settings for EV2, alpha one, counterclockwise two,
two decimal five.
-One, two.
Beginning the lower left.
-This is Mission Control Houston.
The crew members now have closed the aft shroud doors,
and the next step is to bolt
the fixed-head star trackers back into place.
-...whether you recommend us doing the MFR swap.
-One, two...
-NIV, we're discussing that right now.
-We'll be right back to you.
-Okay. Doors open.
[ Speaks indistinctly ]
-Out.
-Then you'll stay at the door, Sir John.
-Roger that.
-Perhaps Steve could do that for you, actually.
-[Indistinct] Actually, with this caddy on,
I think it's the easiest push the door that way.
-Copy. Charlie, to be clear.
So John, bravo is already connected?
-Bravo is connected, yes. -Oh, I missed that one.
-Okay. -All three are connected.
-And can you give me the serial number on Charlie?
-Affirmative, 0, 1, 4, foxtrot.
Now I've got my Velcro work to do.
-Okay. We copy 0,1, 4, foxtrot.
Well-done, John.
-And, again, John, we'll have to skip photo closeout
because of the time.
-Copy that.
-Push down on my back. -Okay.
-Okay, stop. Stop.
-Let me get in position here. -Okay.
-I'll count to three, okay? -Okay.
-We'll go to phase two.
-Okay.
-Okay. You ready? -Yep.
-One, two, three.
-Do that again. -Okay.
One, two, three.
-Thought that would happen.
Just the foam kind of terminated after a while.
-Wait.
I think you need to be on the right.
-Yep. Let's do it one more time.
I think we almost got it. -Okay.
-Tell me when you're ready. -I'm ready.
-You're going to push on me, right?
-Yep. -One, two, three.
-How far off is it?
-I think we can get it. Hold on.
-Okay.
You guys got it?
You got it? -Yep.
-Okay.
-And the tool caddy now has been removed
from the Manipulator Foot Restraint
on the end of the shuttle's robot arm,
that now being placed inside the airlock by John Grunsfeld.
-Let's see. One-eighty, 180, okay.
So I think you already did that, huh, John?
-That's basically where I was, yeah.
-Okay.
-You're good to zero, zero, zero.
-Do you copy that, Steve? -Yeah, zero, zero, zero.