The Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys: Post-Servicing Mission 4
Abstract
Prior to 2007, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) was the workhorse instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, accounting for over 70% of scheduled programs. ACS suffered two anomalies in 2006, leading to a switch to the redundant set of electronics. This restored operation of all three channels on the instrument: the Wide Field Channel (WFC), the High Resolution Channel (HRC), and the Solar Blind Channel (SBC).
On January 27, 2007, the instrument was rendered inoperable as a result of a failure of these redundant electronics. The Solar Blind Channel alone could be reactivated using the primary set of electronics. This was completed on February 20, 2007. Almost immediately after the January 2007 anomaly, the HST Project assembled a team to examine the options for the repair. In a remarkably short time, the instrument condition was assessed, a repair concept developed, and implementation began for a system that will be deployed during Servicing Mission 4 (SM4) in August 2008. The repair will replace the existing WFC CCD Electronics Box (CEB) and power it using a replacement Low Voltage Power Supply (LVPS). While the highest priority is restoring WFC, the repair hardware also provides the possibility of restoring the HRC by supplying power to the HRC from the new LVPS using the original power bus. If successful, the repair will restore all three cameras to full operation after SM4, making them available for the Cycle 17 Call for Proposals.- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AAS...21113509C