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Image of robot servicing space telescope.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, April 25, 2005 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Frank Cepollina

"The Hubble Space Telescope Robotic Servicing Mission"

ABSTRACT -- NASA is currently designing a robotic vehicle to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Consisting of a Deorbit Module containing propulsion and new batteries and an Ejection Module containing robotic systems and orbital replacement units, the Hubble Robotic Vehicle (HRV) will be used to lengthen the life of HST and to build upon its scientific capabilities. The HST Project will remotely control this new vehicle from the ground to install new instruments and gyros, and to provide a rerouting of the power generation system to use the new batteries. This talk will present the overall architecture for this first-of-a-kind mission and discuss the technologies required for its success.

SPEAKER -- Mr. Frank Cepollina serves as Deputy Associate Director of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Development Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He is responsible for carrying out the on-orbit servicing that keeps Hubble in peak condition throughout its 20-year mission. He also leads the development of all the new science instruments and replacement hardware that allow Hubble to stay on the cutting edge of technology throughout its long life. Mr. Cepollina graduated from the University of Santa Clara in 1959 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. He worked for four years for the Aerojet General Corporation and the Defense Intelligence Agency before joining NASA in 1963. He helped develop the OSO and OAO spacecraft, and he led development of the Explorer Platform, which enables the exchange of scientific payloads in orbit. In 1970, he led an effort to establish the architecture for NASA's first serviceable Multimission Modular Spacecraft. This concept was used for such missions as HST, Solar Maximum, Landsat, GRO, UARS, TOPEX, the Explorer Platform, and missions for other agencies. In 1982, Mr. Cepollina became Project Manager for the Solar Maximum Repair Mission, NASA's first repair mission to use the Space Shuttle. Mr. Cepollina is the recipient of numerous NASA and federal government awards, and in 2000 the President conferred upon him the rank of Meritorious Executive in Senior Executive Service. Most recently, he was named to the exclusive National Inventors Hall of Fame, which includes other pioneers such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford.




Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov