From here, whither?

What a picturesque landing at Edwards Air Force Base by Atlantis. It was a marvelous end to a spectacular mission. There are varied and rich reasons why the operation was so exciting. I’d like to focus in on one in particular that I think is important not only for STS-125 and Hubble, but for manned space flight’s future.

The ability to work in space will determine how successful any manned undertaking is in low earth orbit, on the moon, or Mars, anywhere off the earth’s surface. The servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) were designed to replace modular units referred to as orbital replacement units (ORU). That would make the tasks simple. Unfasten the ORU, slip it out, slide another in and fasten. Done. No task in zero g is simple if one has done them in 1 g all his or her life. However, this planning and design would make the tasks as simple as possible for the astronauts. Since one last mission to HST had been worked into NASA’s schedule, scientists and engineers wanted to do all they could to extend the life as much as possible.

That being the case, there were some elements that needed to be replaced which were not ORUs. They were not modular for the fast out-and-in fix. This presented engineers with the challenge of designing tools and work tasks that the astronauts could do, particularly in their bulky pressurized suits. (If you don’t think the suits make a difference in how one works, take the time to find out more by reading up on astronauts who’ve done EVA.) And then the mission specialists had to test the tools and procedures in suits in neutral buoyancy (as close as one can get to zero g on the ground for any length of time).

The end result is that the HST repair EVAs were not just more of the same thing. Some of their tasks were, but they there were those that had never been intended to be done by ‘nauts in space. Yes, there were snags and slip ups. Come on, how perfect is it on the ground in 1 g with all the tools and extras of everything not far from hand? But if one compares the unexpected with the whole end results, the uh-ohs pale in comparison to the great accomplishments of humans in space. Every task was accomplished, and the last EVA ended ahead of the time line, even with the difficulties involved in the mission.

That speaks volumes for the ability of humans, their adaptability and ability to problem solve. Perhaps we were created to live in 1 g, but this demonstrates that humans have a long range of malleability. Perhaps earth is our cradle, but as Tsiolkovsky said, one cannot stay in the cradle forever.

I think that STS-125 marks a certain point in our travel through space exploration at which humans can point to show we are able to live and work in space, wherever our space program takes us. If we can repair a telescope in orbit, what else can we do? Only the decision makers hold us back.