STS-103

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  25996 / 99069A Launch date - time  20 Dec 1999 - 00:50 UT Launch site  KSC, LC-39B Launch vehicle  Shuttle Orbiter  Discovery F27 Primary payload   Mass (kg)   Flight Crew  Brown, Kelly, Smith, Clervoy Grunsfeld, Foale, Nicollier Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  591 / 610 km    - Inclination  28.45°    - Period   min Landing date - time  28 Dec 1999 - 00:01:34 UT Landing location  KSC, Runway 33 Flight Duration  7d 23h 11m Nbr orbits  119

Crew

Summary:

Mission details:

• Plans were to launch Discovery on STS-103 in early December. Discovery has been mated to external tank ET-101 and solid boosters RSRM-73, and was rolled out from VAB bay 1 to the pad on Nov 13, 1999.
• Space Shuttle OV-103 Discovery was launched at 00:50 UTC on Dec 20, 1999 on Hubble servicing mission SM-3A, delayed repeatedly by technical problems with the shuttle fleet after the near-disastrous previous launch. Finally launched after the last possible day to avoid Y2K computer problems; one spacewalk was cancelled so that the shuttle could return by December 28.
• At 00:58 UTC the external tank ET-101 separated leaving the Orbiter in a 56 x 587 km x 28.5 deg transfer orbit. The OMS 2 burn at 01:34 UTC raised the orbit to 313 x 582 km. Hubble is in a 591 x 610 km x 28.5 deg orbit, and Discovery will rendezvous with it on Tuesday.
• The payload bay contained:
  • Bay 1-2: External airlock/ODS
  • Bay 7-8: ORU Carrier (Spacelab pallet). Carried Hubble replacement spares arranged as follows: COPE protective enclosure with three RSU gyros, a new solid state recorder, and an S-band transmitter; LOPE enclosure with an HST-486 computer and voltage improvement kit; ASIPE enclosure with a spare HST-486 and spare RSU; FSIPE enclosure with a replacement FGS-2 fine guidance sensor; and NPE enclosure with New Outer Blanket Layer insulation.
  • Bay 11: Flight Servicing System (FSS). Contained the BAPS (Berthing and Positioning System) used to dock with the aft end of the Hubble Space Telescope. Discovery will rendezvous with HST, grapple it with the RMS manipulator arm, and berth it on the BAPS. Astronauts will then make at least three spacewalks to change out the equipment on HST. Finally, Discovery will release the telescope back into orbit.
  • Bay 8: APC carrier with foot restraint
  • Bay 12: APC carrier with HST foot retstraint
  
  
• Crew of STS-103 are Curt Brown (Commander), Scott Kelly (Pilot), Steven Smith (Payload Commander), John Grunsfeld, Michael Foale, Claude Nicollier, and Jean-Francois Clervoy (Mission Specialists). Nicollier and Clervoy are European Space Agency astronauts.
• Discovery grappled the Hubble Space Telescope with the robot arm at 00:34 UTC on Dec 22, in a 591 x 610 km x 28.5 deg. The first EVA on Dec 22-23, by Smith and Grunsfeld, was successful in replacing the six gyroscopes.
• On EVA-2, by Foale and Nicollier, the 486 computer was installed (replacing a 286/386) and the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS-2) was replaced.
• EVA-3 was by Smith and Grunsfeld, and completed part of the new insulation installation. HST was released on Dec 25 at 23:03 UTC.
• In the spacewalks, the axial hatch on the external airlock was used. The hatch was opened before the astronauts went on battery power.
  For EVA-3, Grunsfeld's EMU suit had a problem, so he used the suit worn by Foale on EVA-2 instead. However, the new suit also had a problem at the end of the spacewalk, when it refused to switch to orbiter power.
• The deorbit burn at 22:48 UTC on Dec 27 placed the orbiter in a 50 km x 616 km descent orbit. Discovery landed on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 00:01 UTC on December 28.