SPACEPHOTOS

(11/17/1999) -- At Launch Pad 39B, STS-103 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.) looks over the Hubble servicing cargo in the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery. The activity is part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), which also provides the crew with emergency egress training and a simulated countdown exercise. Other crew members taking part in the TCDT are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Jean-François Clervoy of France, and Claude Nicollier of Switzerland. Clervoy and Nicollier are with the European Space Agency. STS-103 is a 'call-up' mission due to the need to replace and repair portions of the Hubble Space Telescope, including the gyroscopes that allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will be replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor, an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. Four EVA's are planned to make the necessary repairs and replacements on the telescope. The mission is targeted for launch Dec. 6 at 2:37 a.m. EST