STS-31
The Space Shuttle Discovery mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990.
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living encyclopedia entryThe Space Shuttle Discovery mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990.
The Hubble Space Telescope was designed to observe the universe above the blurring atmosphere. The shuttle could carry the nearly eleven-ton observatory to an unusually high orbit and later return to service it.
Mission specialist and veteran of earlier shuttle flights.
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Mission specialist who later became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk.
open person →Discovery lifted off carrying the most sensitive payload of its career: Hubble.
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Using the RMS arm, the crew lifted Hubble from the payload bay and released it into its own orbit.
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Discovery landed at Edwards after five days and 80 orbits.
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MISSION IN NUMBERS
Discovery carried Hubble to about 380 statute miles. The Canadian-built RMS arm held the telescope above the payload bay while the crew extended its solar arrays and antennas.
Hubble was deployed on 25 April 1990 and the mission ended after 80 orbits. STS-31 began the work of one of history’s most influential astronomical observatories.
- Hubble was deployed at roughly 380 statute miles, higher than typical shuttle missions.
- Discovery travelled about 2.1 million miles during the five-day mission.
- Hubble fit the payload bay tightly, measuring about 13.1 metres in length.
