maintenance articles
What is the primary international partnership managing the Hubble Space Telescope operation?
Which specialized facility is entrusted with the day-to-day scientific direction and management of the HST data stream?
Who operates the STScI under contract to NASA?
What critical role was Lockheed Martin primarily responsible for regarding the HST?
What is the distinct focus of STScI operations compared to hardware support contractors?
How many servicing missions were flown by NASA astronauts between 1993 and 2009?
What was the specific purpose of the very first Hubble servicing mission?
What development directly ended the era of direct human maintenance on Hubble?
What was Hubble’s original intended operational design life?
How does the design philosophy of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) contrast with Hubble regarding maintenance?
What is currently being discussed theoretically regarding future servicing or retrieval missions for Hubble?
What task does the STScI staff perform when an astronomer proposes a target observation?
What unique capability allowed the *Hubble Space Telescope* to overcome aging hardware issues?
Why does a failure in a single, critical component often end the mission for a distant modern space telescope?
What environmental hazard outside Earth’s magnetosphere specifically degrades electronics in space telescopes over time?
What operating temperature is often necessary for telescopes like JWST that observe the infrared spectrum?
What factor governs the inherent, pre-calculated expiration date for space telescopes operating at Earth-Sun Lagrange points?
Why must a spacecraft orbiting the L2 point periodically fire small thrusters?
What primary logistical hurdle is associated with launching space telescopes that are folded up like origami?
What constant threat, even from tiny specks, poses a risk of damaging mirrors or sensors on space telescopes?
What limits the size of the primary mirror for space telescopes, forcing engineering compromises?