177-Hubble Tool Time Episode 1: Astronaut Training
April 8
How NASA Is Selecting the Next Astronauts to Walk on the Moon (from Smithsonian).
Retired NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld hosts this six-part mini-series about the tools used on the Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. Hubble was uniquely designed to be serviced in space so that components could be repaired and upgraded. Astronauts using custom-designed tools performed challenging spacewalks on five servicing missions from 1993 to 2009 to keep Hubble operating so that it could change our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Join John and astronaut trainer Christy Hansen in this first episode to learn about how astronauts trained to use the tools on the Hubble servicing missions.
In addition to enabling Hubble’s scientific discoveries, the tools developed by teams at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and tested in collaboration with the Johnson Space Center furthered NASA’s human exploration capabilities. These tools and the knowledge gleaned from the Hubble servicing missions are used today by astronauts on the International Space Station, and will be critical to NASA’s future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.