KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A crane in the Vertical Processing Facility lifts the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Cooling System off the workstand. NICMOS II is part of the payload on mission STS-109, the Hubble Servicing Telescope Mission. It is a new experimental cooling system consisting of a compressor and tiny turbines. With the experimental cryogenic system, NASA hopes to re-cool the infrared detectors to below -315 degrees F (-193 degrees Celsius). NICMOS II was previously tested aboard STS-95 in 1998. It could extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope by several years. Astronauts aboard Columbia on mission STS-109 will be replacing the original NICMOS with the newer version. Launch of mission STS-109 is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2002
description
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A crane in the Vertical Processing Facility lifts the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Cooling System off the workstand. NICMOS II is part of the payload on mission STS-109, the Hubble Servicing Telescope Mission. It is a new experimental cooling system consisting of a compressor and tiny turbines. With the experimental cryogenic system, NASA hopes to re-cool the infrared detectors to below -315 degrees F (-193 degrees Celsius). NICMOS II was previously tested aboard STS-95 in 1998. It could extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope by several years. Astronauts aboard Columbia on mission STS-109 will be replacing the original NICMOS with the newer version. Launch of mission STS-109 is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2002
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