STS-217

STS-217
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	STS-217
Space shuttle	Horizon
Launch pad	Kennedy LC-39C
Launch date	24 April, 2017
Landing	8 May, 2017
Orbital period	97 min
Orbital altitude	600 kilometers (373 miles)
Orbital inclination	28.5°
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission STS-216 STS-218

STS-217, or HST-SM5 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 5), was the sixth space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) which was flown by Space Shuttle Horizon. Launch occurred on 24 April, 2017 at 12:01 pm EST. Landing occurred successfully on 8 May, 2017 at 10:38 am EST.

The mission carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Advanced Multi-Object Spectrometer and the Advanced Camera for Surveys 2. The mission also replaced the telescope's main computer, a Fine Guidance Sensor and two battery unit modules. The crew also installed new thermal insulation panels. In conjunction with STS-211, which raised Hubble's orbit to 374 miles (601.9 km), the mission was intended to allow the telescope to continue operating until at least 2022.

Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Roger Mason Fourth spaceflight
Pilot	Sarah Engels Fourth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Sandra Harris Second spaceflight EV3
Mission Specialist 2	Yuma Tazuka Fourth spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Ehud Shalom, Israel Third spaceflight Lead spacewalker, EV1
Mission Specialist 4	Sonya Alvarez Third spaceflight EV2
Mission Specialist 5	Ricky L. Wilson First spaceflight EV4

Mission history

Following STS-125 and the subsequent retirement of the NASA Space Shuttle fleet, no additional flights to the Hubble Telescope were planned. NASA's original end of mission plan for the telescope was to retrieve it using Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-144, however this plan was cancelled following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

The International Space Agency had originally planned to recover the telescope in a mission similar to STS-144, and plans were in work to use a modified Space Shuttle mission in order to return the telescope for display at the National Air and Space Museum in Wikipedia:Washington, D.C. or at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Plans were finalized in 2014 for recovery using a modified version of the Flight Support Structure (FSS) designed to hold the telescope inside of the payload bay during repairs. The modified FSS would have been detachable and discarded, along with the solar arrays. Following a petition from scientists and technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Johnson Space Center and the McGregor Space Center, and due to the increasing complexity of the mission, the numerous modifications required to the Shuttle in order to allow for the mission, and due to safety concerns, ISA managers officially cancelled the Hubble Recovery Mission on August 23, 2014. The crew and Shuttle assigned to the mission were reassigned to STS-217, which was changed to become the fifth servicing flight to the telescope, and the first ISA flight to it in cooperation with NASA.

Mission payload

Location	Cargo	Mass
Bays 1–2	Orbiter Docking System EMUs 4008, 4012, 2018, 4022	1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb) ~480 kilograms (1,060 lb)
Bay 3P	Shuttle Power Distribution Unit (SPDU)	~17 kilograms (37 lb)
Bays 4–5	SLIC /COPE with Advanced Camera for Surveys 2	2,990 kilograms (6,590 lb)
Bays 7–8	ORUC COS/RSU/FGS Advanced Multi-Object Spectrometer Fine Guidance Sensor	3,339 kilograms (7,361 lb)
Bay 10P	GABA/MFR	~50 kilograms (110 lb)
Bay 10P	GABA/PFR	~50 kilograms (110 lb)
Bay 11	HST-FSS/BAPS/SCM Berthing and Positioning Sys Soft Capture Mechanism	2,177 kilograms (4,799 lb)
Bay 12	MULE RNS, NOBL blankets	1,409 kilograms (3,106 lb)
Starboard Sill	Orbiter Boom Sensor System	~382 kilograms (842 lb)
Port Sill	Canadarm	~410 kilograms (900 lb)
	Total:	13,104 kilograms (28,889 lb)

The mission replaced two instruments on Hubble with upgraded replacements. The first instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys 2 (ACS2), replaced the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). ACS failed multiple times from 2006-2007 due to electrical system failures. Two of the instrument's channels were returned to service in 2009 following spacewalks performed on STS-125, but the High Resolution Channel (HRC) remained offline. ACS2 was designed as an advanced replacement, utilizing new electrical systems intended to be more reliable than those on ACS and using new sensors and filters to improve the resolution and sensitivity of the telescope. The second instrument, the Advanced Multi-Object Spectrometer (AMOS), replaced the Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). NICMOS failed in 2008 following multiple issues with the onboard cooling systems and was largely replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Hubble was never originally designed for near-infrared operations and required onboard cooling systems specifically for NICMOS in order to compensate for the telescope's warm operating environment. The James Webb Space Telescope operates in infrared frequencies at much higher resolution than Hubble, which led designers to abandon IR features for AMOS. The new instrument uses multiple high resolution channels operating from near infrared to ultraviolet frequencies to study objects in unprecedented detail.

The telescope's main hardware was upgraded by replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor which controls the positioning of the telescope, replacing batteries, replacing the onboard computer system with a one based on the RAD750 and installing new insulation blankets.