The conclusion we've come to from that is that there is a significant
spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics.
...and that we should be able to fix it in our insurance program.
We were very worried about how the mission would be perceived
if we were not able to accomplish all of the objectives of the mission.
Just disappointment, like everybody else.
We are all looking forward to the images from the telescope.
I wasn't an official part of the mission control team for the deploy,
but I got to go down and sit next to Story Musgrave while he was CapComing
as they were working an issue during deploy, just in case
he needed an extra set of hands to bring him coffee or something.
We were all waiting for the images to come back because we all
are curious about our universe
and we were disappointed when they were not perfect.
Some people asked me earlier today, “what is spherical aberration?”
The simplest way of understanding it is that when you have a mirror,
this focusing, the light all comes together at a single point
as the objective of the exercise.
You want the light come together and focus at a single point.
When you have spherical aberration,
it says that there are some disfigurement of that mirror that causes the light.
Instead of focusing at a single point to be spread across a region in space,
and that a spherical aberration.
When I found out I was on the mission, it was really a surprise
and really exciting, and mainly
because it was going to be so different than the mission I had right before it,
and I was going to get to learn a lot of new things
and fly with some good folks.
So I was excited.
The number one goal on the first Hubble Space
Telescope servicing mission was to correct the error in the mirror.
There was a lot of training and there were a lot of review teams.
Those are the two things that I remember.
The training was really, really enjoyable and we would train
for the ascent and entry parts
of the mission, for the orbit part of the mission and simulators,
and then there were a lot of water tank runs
where we would go over there with the folks who were doing the spacewalks.
They would be the ones in the water and the rest of us would be outside
watching, running the robot arm in the water tank.
But sometimes we’d get to put on scuba gear and get down up close and watch
what they were working with. And that was really fun, too.
My key task was to be the, basically the copilot,
we call it the pilot, because you don't want to be the copilot on a space shuttle.
You've got the commander and the pilot.
During the launch rendezvous, the grapple,
and the berthing of the telescope, and then the release and fly away.
And then the entry.
The way we felt the public pressure was in all the review teams.
We had lots of folks looking over our shoulder,
trying to make sure that we were thinking of everything
that we needed to think about before we did the mission.
But for the crew, I think our biggest worry was
less about being successful
and being able to correct the problem, the vision problem with the telescope,
and it was more about making sure we didn't make the situation worse.
The crew on the first servicing mission was completely engaged
and devoted to making that mission a success.
Everybody had a job.
We tried not to do other people's jobs, but we were always there to help,
somebody who needed help. Somebody stepped in.
If somebody had something they needed,
somebody else would figure out how to help them with it.
There's a lot of feelings.
You get up in space, a lot of really good feelings
when you see the Earth, when you see a beautiful instrument like the telescope.
But I think every astronaut's greatest fear is making a mistake.
And probably the best thing you can possibly hear is when
the ground comes up and says, “Hey,
you did that right!
You went through post-insertion
and there weren't any mistakes, or, Yeah, that didn't work out
like we expected it to, but we really think you did the right thing.”
So thanks.
When the corrected images came out,
that's when I was able to breathe a sigh of relief and say it really worked.
And I think a lot of the other folks on the team were that way, too.
I was like, okay, this really did work.
Folks will pay a lot of attention to what we did.
But if you look at the engineering challenge, all the intricate details
of the instruments that were required to gather the data
that was presented, it's really impressive.
The work that was done was 100 times harder than our servicing mission.
And so I think all of us were a little bit relieved when we saw those pictures.
Every mission tries to take as much as it can
from the missions that went before it.
The Hubble servicing mission, the first Hubble servicing mission tried
to take as much as it could from other spacewalk missions
or EVA missions of the past,
whether they were for assembly or repairs.
And then a lot of it was developed new
for the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.
But then a lot of the knowledge that was developed there
transferred directly to construction of the International Space Station.
It'll transfer to things that we do at Gateway someday.
It'll apply to things that we do
on the Moon and deep space going to Mars and beyond.
It all links, but there are a lot of procedures
and processes that were developed
during Hubble missions, or started during Hubble missions that have been refined
and you can see the roots when you look at ops on the International
Space Station today.
I am proud of our
team for what we did, but I'm proud of the country
for being willing to invest in something like that,
that's pure science, that's trying to learn about what's around us,
and our international partners that were also part of the mission, right?
I mean, it's something that's good about humanity,
that we can put our efforts on something positive that increases
our knowledge of our surroundings.
I think perspective is good.
I think we've seen that things are bigger than us.
And you look at a Hubble image and you realize
that the universe is bigger than us, and that perspective
helps you realize that, you know, all humans are important.
Everybody that you talk to is important and that
none of us deserve to be treated differently than anyone else.
So I just want
to say I'm proud to be from a country that supports efforts like this.
I think space exploration reflects the continuing pioneering
spirit of the American people, and I think it's something we can all be proud of.