Astronauts Steven L. Smith and John M. Grunsfeld are photographed during an extravehicular activity (EVA) during the December 1999 Hubble servicing mission of STS-103, flown by Discovery.
December 21-29, 1999
Astronauts Steven L. Smith and John M. Grunsfeld are photographed during an extravehicular activity (EVA) during the December 1999 Hubble servicing mission of STS-103, flown by Discovery. On this spacewalk, the astronauts are replacing gyroscopes, contained in rate sensor units (RSU) inside the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. was responsible for the design, development, and construction of the Hubble Space Telescope, launched on April 24, 1990. Hubble was designed with these types of on orbit servicing missions in mind as a way of extending the telescope’s lifespan.
Image credit: NASA/JSC