5/16/2009
NEWS BRIEFS
Astronauts Struggle to Loosen Bolt on Hubble Camera
30 minutes of spacewalk used on one fastener

A fastener appeared to be the toughest challenge on the first day of a five-day project to update the 19-year-old Hubble telescope with a new camera and computer.

Astronaut Drew Feustel stood on the end of a robotic arm and struggled for 30 minutes with multiple ratchet tools to remove two bolts holding the Hubble’s main camera they were trying to replace.

Feustel used a hand-held socket wrench with an extension to try to loosen the second bolt, which was hidden from sight but accessible via a hole in the camera’s exterior.

Astronaut John Grunsfeld returned to the airlock to get another wrench, which also failed to loosen the bolt.

Feustel went back to the socket wrench, which was designed to apply limited force before slipping, to avoid breaking the bolt and trapping the old camera inside the telescope. “Still slipping,” Feustel kept reporting.

“What are the implications if I over-torque and break the bolt?” Feustel asked.

The answer from Grunsfeld: The old camera would stay in the telescope forever.

Feustel tried again and declared, “It turned, it definitely turned.” The astronauts then were able to replace the 16-year-old camera with the new $132 million Wide Field 3 camera.

At one point Grunsfeld reached into a tool bag for another ratchet and a rivet floated out. He was able to grab the fastener before it floated away as space debris. ©2009 FastenerNews.com