A Mission So Dangerous A Rescue Shuttle Was Ready! | STS-125

Keep Hubble in service. It's a valuable tool to observe the universe. When it does finally end is usefulness, bring it home.

"it belongs in a museum!" (long after a refurb mission has extended its life and unlocked more scientific mysteries)

I just loved that screw capture device! What a great solution. And yes, let Jared and SpaceX boost Hubble to a higher orbit, and maybe do a wee bit of maintenance at the same time. And yes, in another ten years or so, if Starship is fully online, it would not be too difficult to design a Starship cargo bay to bring Hubble back to earth. Would be so amazing to see it in a museum, and a much more fitting end for an instrument that's taught us all so much about the universe.

I watched the spacewalks live on NASA-TV on DirecTV which was one of the few options back then. The two most memorable involved Mike Massimino. One of them was mentioned in the video, when he yanked the handle off. But even more dramatic was the first spacewalk which was to replace the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) with Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Mike had to loosen the bolt on WFPC2, which turned out to be stuck. If he couldn't get it loose they would have had to leave WFPC2 in place. When the first preset torque wrench failed he was given permission to use a higher torque wrench. When that one also failed he was given permission to use the highest torque wrench they had. But the nut still refused to budge. The only wrench left was a breaker bar, but if the bolt broke off that would be bad and it might even make WFPC2 unusable. But they gave him a go to use the breaker bar. He put some muscle into it, and it loosened. And we now have 15 years of wonderful pictures from WFC3 because of it.

This video really made me appreciate how hard those astronauts worked to keep Hubble going. Hubble has a special place in all astronomer's hearts.

WOW! Sawyer I didn’t realize that there were so many missions to Hubble. Thank you for keeping us updated. I hope NASA does choose to let Jared and his team save Hubble with more upgrades. It seems like the best option.

Great video! Yes, Hubble is definitely worth saving and we have an mission crew ready to accept the challenge that could extend Hubble's life 10-20 years giving Starship enough time to develope into a mission to bring Hubble back! This would be absolutely awesome!

A SpaceX mission to service the Hubble would be great to see.

If I'm not mistaken, the ONLY time NASA ever had an active ready-to-fly emergency vehicle prepped and on the pad!

Wild episode, very interessting mission back then, thanks a lot for making it

Large mouth starship coming in clutch

Thanks Sawyer! And NSF. Great summary of the Hubble maintenance missions… and a demonstration of Shuttle’s potential, and the reason for manned spaceflight. I was glued to the TV during all those missions, and imagining future missions to repair various spacecraft. We should definitely extend Hubble’s life in future missions.. it’s an iconic scientific resource.

Sawyer - great episode! I always followed the Hubble missions quite closely, but you brought up some info I didn’t know. Nice deeper dive!

I got lucky and timed a visit to KSC while Endeavor was on the pad and got to go on the “VIP” tour, which took you about as close to the pad as they ever allow the general public. That was a cool experience.

great presentation Sawyer :_ElonPoint:

Thanks Sawyer! Great video!

Having a rescue shuttle is certainly not as easy as keeping a plane on standby. I remember watching the servicing mission as a youth, it was fun warching astronauts with bulky gloves working with various tools. Later on when I was in my early 20s, I had the privilege of watching the last servicing mission.

Thanks NSF team.

Awesom video, very informative Thank you so much Sawyer, & NSF!!!

Excellent video @NASASpaceflight! I love your productions. Thanks for teaching us and keeping us informed on all things Spaceflight! Gorgeous Hubble images! What a story of events. I love my Shuttle T-Shirt. One of my favorites!